


Race against Death

by LeoNita



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Blood and Torture, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Mutilation, Near Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-19 05:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 36
Words: 78,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3597975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeoNita/pseuds/LeoNita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo and Mikey disappeared for 3 months. Raph and Don must get them back. The bad news? The clues are not clear and their enemy's identity is unknown. Can things get any worse? Sure, they certainly can. Just ask Leo and Mikey. Best Villain (2nd place)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one was posted in FanFiction on Nov 11th, 2011... back when I was just learning english and how to write a serious story. As I started posting the chapters here I realized I made a lot of silly mistakes and my god, some lines are just cheesy. It gets better as the story progresses, don't worry.

It's been 3 months since he last saw our brothers and we never stopped looking for them from the day they disappeared till today. Day and night, week to week; we haven't left rock unturned. Sadly, there is no trace of them.

My name is Donatello and I'm in the agonizing search of my eldest and my youngest brother.

Master Splinter, April, Casey, Leatherhead, Angel and the Justice Force are helping Raph and I on this task but we haven't been successful yet. The Foot claims they don't have them and neither the Purple Dragons, Bishop hasn't shown any interest in us since our last encounter and we haven't known anything about Stockman in a while.

Now, how did this happen?

We were on patrol, nothing special. But for once, Leo didn't pair us as usual. I had to team up with Raph while he teamed up with Mikey. No big deal; besides, Leo wanted to work on Mikey's stealth while patrolling. Don't get me wrong, Mikey is a stealthy ninja but sometimes, when he gets too much excited, he can be as noisy as shell and that could be his doom one day.

A few hours and beaten thugs later, Leo called us to our shell cells saying Raph and I could go home; he and Mikey had gone a little further from our normal route and it would take them a while to get back home in time.

Raph and I didn't worry about it and we headed home and focused on our own business: me in my lab and Raph rushed to the living room and started watching his wrestling show.

I think it was 3 hours later when Raph came to my lab telling me Leo and Mikey weren't answering their phones. I was so focused on my work that I hadn't noticed they had to be in the lair already and I started tracking them.

Since I didn't get any positive result, we went out and tried to locate the last place Leo and Mikey were since their last call. With a lot of work, we found the place but there was no sign of battle or struggling or any tranquilizer dart. It was really odd.

That night we called everyone we knew. First we thought they could be at April and Casey's place; sometimes after our patrols, Mikey wants to go there and chat, maybe eat and then we're back home but it was strange because Leo would have called me. Then I thought his battery could've died but it was impossible because if they were on April's, he just could've called using her phone!

And what about Mikey? Why he didn't…

Oh, sorry I started rambling. I tend to do that when I'm stress or nervous… which is my case right now.

Anyway, I called to Silver Sentry just in case Mikey had gone there to goof off and had dragged Leo along but the answer was negative.

Raph suspected about Karai going through the dark path again but I reminded him we had a truce and right now she was in Japan attending other business that they're not of our concern as far as I know.

Master Splinter tried to contact Leo through meditation but he couldn't feel him and  _that's_  what I needed to confirm they were in big time trouble!

And so here we are, back to the present. Still confused, worried out of my shell; this is my… wait… I don't know exactly how much coffee I've drunk till now but I can say it's been enough to keep me awake for days.

I just wish, wherever they are, they're alive and keeping hope.

We're coming for you guys.

I promise.


	2. Chapter 2

A tattooed man with a bloodied t-shirt walked through a dark corridor and knocked the door at the end of the hall. A green light announced him he was now allowed to pass.

"The subject won't talk, sir" he said.

 A hand came out from a big brown chair holding a cigarette. "Three months… three damn months and they're still being stubborn" A dark voice said in frustration, his hand disappearing in the darkness with the cigarette.

"I'm getting tired of those freaks already. Send the tape and tell the others to get ready…" the voice said again letting out small smoke circles as he spoke. The tattooed man left the room.

The chair squeaked as the man on it got up and walked away to turn on a big screen that showed two bruised and beaten turtles laying in the cold floor of their cell.

"Such rare specimens... yet so stupid"

* * *

 

He didn't want to open his eyes. He was so tired and more bruised than yesterday; he just wanted to sleep.

"Hey…"

That voice and that hand shaking him gently… he knew them, he knew them well. But as much as Mikey knew whose hand and voice was, he was too tired to answer back.

"Mikey? C'mon buddy…" Again, that voice insisted and the hand shook him with more urgency. His big brother just knew how to ruin a good nap. The orange masked ninja slowly opened his eyes and could see the blurry from of his blue masked brother looking at him in concern.

"Hey Leo" Mikey rubbed his eyes. Now the blurriness was gone.

"Nice to see you're awake" Leo smiled at him.

"How long I was out?" Mikey yawned.

"About two hours" Leo sighed.

"Whoa… less than last time" Mikey chuckled but winced when he tried to stretch his arms; they had so many bruises.

His jade colored skin didn't look the same anymore; it had a mix of blue and purple bruises all over it with cuts, some were deep and some weren't; dried blood in some parts of his body and black eye that was slowly fading away.

"How's your leg?" Mikey asked to his eldest brother.

"Still hurts but at least the bone is in place" Leo shrugged.

He hadn't been as lucky as Mikey was… if he could call  _that_  being lucky. He had suffered deeper cuts, harder beatings that left bigger and more painful bruises, some broken ribs that had already healed; his leg had been smashed with a baseball bat and now he was in a slow and torturing recovering phase. Leo looked paler than his youngest brother and a little skinnier; food for them was rationed and most of the time, he gave part of it to Mikey; he was way younger than him and needed extra strength for the beatings to come in the morning, afternoon and sometimes even at night.

"What did they do to you this time?" Leo asked.

"Normal morning beating" Mikey leaned on the wall lazily.

"Now I know what I'm getting this afternoon" the eldest turtle chuckled. Mikey stayed quiet, looking at his feet with a small frown on his face.

"Still thinking about them?" Mikey glanced at his brother but didn't answer his question; he turned his gaze back to his feet. Leo moved as long as he could manage and sat beside the youngest turtle.

"I guess I'm just… you know…" Mikey said after a while.

"Keeping hope" Leo completed the statement.

"Doesn't hurt" Mikey smiled a little. It was rare to see him smile nowadays.

"I know" Leo smiled back. Mikey leaned his head on his brother's shoulder.

"You think they're still looking for us?"

"Of course they are. They're our family" Leo said.

"You said you tried contacting with Splinter but you couldn't" Mikey continued.

"I was tired; those guys went rougher on me because I tried to fight back… and… I didn't see the… "

"Could we please don't talk about that, Leo?" Mikey moved away from him interrupting his talking.

"Hey, it's ok" Leo placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder "Sure I was unconscious for a few days but…"

"Leo, you were bleeding to death!" Mikey snarled "Those bastards used your sword against you; that wasn't fair!" Now he was shaking slightly; that was a memory he knew it would haunt him forever.

"I should have noticed it" Leo commented lowering his gaze.

"It wasn't your fault, bro. And please… I seriously don't wanna talk about that" Mikey folded arms.

"Sure" Leo decided to drop the subject for now but he knew none of them were going to forget it.

It had happened the night they were kidnapped. Both of them were surrounded by thugs armed with chains, bats, pipes or simply bare handed. Leo and Mikey tried to defeat them and fought with all their strength but when they defeated two thugs, three more of them replaced didn't know where the hell they were appearing but one thing was clear, they kept coming and coming and didn't let the young ninjas take a break. When they tried to call for reinforcements, their cells were smashed into the wall. With time, they ended up beating Mikey and now they were coming for Leo. His katanas were sharp enough to make a clean cut and that made most of the thugs to back off; he took advantage of this to run and give Mikey a hand but he missed one guy coming from behind grabbing the discarded katana.

Mikey had just noticed this and tried to prevent his brother but the thug had already plunged part of the sword on Leo's side leaving him unconscious and bleeding before Mikey's wide opened eyes. More thugs came from nowhere and surrounded both injured turtles. Mikey tried to fight them back but he was restrained, tied and gagged. As he struggled, the orange masked ninja could see how their captors took his brother's body and threw it into a truck; he could also see how they cleaned up the mess they had done so his brothers wouldn't know they were attacked. Those men had cleaned up the blood, picked up one by one the small parts of the turtle's destroyed shell-cells and made sure nobody was around them spying.

Next thing he saw before he joined his brother into the truck was the faint light of a cigarette and some smoke coming from its owner's mouth that made Mikey sneeze and his eyes get glassy.

"Where are the other two?" the man with the cigarette asked.

"They weren't with them, sir" a bald guy informed.

"These two will tell us where they are"

A hit in the back of his head was all Mikey felt and after that… only darkness. They were now in the Devil's hands… again.


	3. Chapter 3

It was another night of tireless searching for Raph and Don; sadly they were still not successful. The purple masked turtle had suggested they should split up in order to cover more ground but Raph was hesitant to agree; he had already lost two brothers and even he denied it, he was terribly scared to lose his genius brother but he knew Don had a point; going the both of them in the same direction wouldn't make the searching easier. After a considerable time of explanations and a lot of convincing skills, Don could make his hotheaded brother use a different searching route.

While Raph jumped through the rooftops, he couldn't stop thinking about how this incident had changed his family: Splinter had to stay with April, it was all for his health's sake; his old heart couldn't bear the lost of Leonardo, his best student and his little ray of sunshine Michelangelo. The lair was a cold and lifeless place; Raph would give up everything to hear his baby brother's laugh once again, he even missed Leo's midnight lectures though now it was useless to remember that; ever since they disappeared, Raph only went outside in order to keep searching. What was the point on going out late if there wasn't someone who told him not to do it. In resume, Raph missed Mikey but he missed Leo the most.

It was almost 2 am; they had extended his searching that night and it was getting cold. Raph decided to go back where Don was supposed to wait for him. The red masked ninja chuckled as he saw how Don fought to stay awake; his head was constantly hanging and the genius' eyes were almost closed.

"You should get some sleep, you know? You're sleeping on your feet like a horse" Raph teased as he arrived.

"Same goes for you" Don chuckled and rubbed his eyes.

"Well, at least I don't show it" Raph offered his brother a hand to get up "Wanna call it a night"

"Don't know. I think we should keep going" Don stretched his arms and grabbed his bo staff again. He was about to move but Raph stopped him.

"Don, we've been searching like forever and it's really late. Let's go home already!"

"That place is not home anymore" Don replied bitterly. 

"Listen, I know how you feel but we can always keep searching tomorrow"

"If you wanna go back, then do it. I'm not stopping you" Don pushed Raph away and kept walking.

Raph grabbed his brother's wrist tightly "Yeh, you are! I'm not leaving you here alone after what happened to…"

"OK! Ok, I got your point, alright?! Let's go"

"I'm worried too, Don but we gotta stay together if we wanna find them"

"If we had stayed together that night, none of this would've happened" 

"Now you're speaking like Fearless" Raph chuckled.

Don was definitely not amused. "Let's go back already"

Both turtles disappeared in the closest manhole they could find. They way back to the lair was quiet; it was not Don-like to stay quiet for a long time, then again… it was always Leo or Mikey the ones who talked to most with the genius turtle during their way back home. Raph realized how distanced he and Don were, the only topic they could talk about was machines. Come to think of it, they didn't even have _that_  in common: for Raph, the definition of  _"machines"_  was cars, bikes, trucks, etc. For Don, it was a totally different.

During the time their brothers had vanished, Raph had seen Don break down several times; he had listened to him crying quietly in his lab. He felt terrible; he wasn't a comforting brother like Leo or had a cheerful spirit and a good joke to brighten up the day like Mikey. They finally made it to the lair where they noticed a black package welcoming them by the door.

"Did you order something?" Raph said a little dumbfounded.

"Right, like we could" Don snorted and picked the package. Both Raph and Don looked at each other in confusion as the latter pulled out what was inside the package. "A tape?"

Don analyzed the small black cassette tape for a moment; it wasn't a big deal. "Get me your stereo"

Raph didn't have to be told twice. He ran upstairs and was back in the lab in less than a blink with his stereo. For some reason, he had a feeling that could be a clue. He hoped it was. There was silence for the first two minutes; Don was about to pull it out when a dark voice than sent shivers down his spine made him freeze.

_"Hello turtles. You don't know me but I know plenty of you thanks to your brothers…"_

"What!" Raph's eyes opened wide. He was right after all, this was a clue.

"This guy… could be the one who captured Leo and Mikey?" Don asked to himself. The voice continued talking.

_"I have some good news for you, they are alive but not for too long… let me tell you something about me: I'm a bit of a collector; I capture only the most rare and amazing creatures and bring them to my home to have some… fun. And trust me; I've already had fun with those two" a chuckle came from the recording "It is always a pleasure to wake up and listen to their screams of pain…"_

"That son of a…"

"Raph, not now. I'm listening!"

_ "I'm tired of these toys and I plan to set them free… if they still can stand on their feet, of course.  But before I set them free, I wanna play one last game with them and also include you two. In the package, there is a tracker and a piece of their cell phones…" _

Don checked the content of the black box. In fact there was a small tracking device and a tiny piece of either Leo's or Mikey's shell cell. He couldn't tell, the piece was almost unrecognizable.

_"…There will be lots of those tiny pieces all over the places you've been… maybe all over the city… the country… the world?" O h, worry not about it… I'm not that bad!" _

There was a prolonged laugh that echoed through the room. _"Alright, those_ _pieces of metal will guide you to your brothers but you must hurry; I'm afraid they won't have much time._ _It is up to you if you find them alive… or dead. We'll stay in touch"_  

"Fucking bastard!" Raph slammed his fist in the wall.

"What did he want to say with they won't have time?"

"He's going to kill them! C'mon and you're supposed to be the genius?!"

"Raph, this guy is clearly insane. He could have killed them way long time ago, yet he didn't!" 

"And what does that mean?" Raph asked, his anger levels rising.

"I'M NOT SURE!" Don yelled. They stayed in silence again; tension could be felt in the air. "I'm not sure this time" 

"Ok...  let's calm down first. We gotta tell the others, we're definitely gonna need them" 

"Right. I'll see if I can create some duplicates of this tracker. I'll have Leatherhead to help me" 

These were some bittersweet news but news nonetheless.


	4. Chapter 4

The following night, Raph called Casey and April and communicated them the good and bad news about the tape he and Don had found. The red-clad turtle prevented April to not tell anything to Splinter yet, they weren't a hundred percent sure about this information so he didn't want his father to get his hopes so high… for now. The red haired woman made sure Splinter was deep asleep and joined her boyfriend in the turtles' lair where Don and Leatherhead worked non-stop making duplicates of the tracking device the mysterious enemy had left.

One their human friends arrived, Raph let them listen to the recording. April deducted they were dealing with a zoosadist, a guy who tortured animals and enjoyed it. When the recording stopped, there was more questions than answers.

"That's it? No more clues?"

"I already told you Casey, we have no clue about him but one thing is clear: he'll kill Leo and Mikey if we don't hurry" Raph said.

"How are you guys doing?" April asked as she noticed Leatherhead approaching to the living room.

"Donatello and I could manage to make two more trackers. Should be enough for Mr. Jones and I for the time being"

"Well, just tell me how to use it and I'll be on my way" Casey said taking one of the new trackers.

"Just press the green button to activate it, look at the screen and it will indicate you the exact place where the next piece is" Don explained.

"Ok, let's move" The dark haired man grabbed his helmet, his keys and the tracker and moved to the door followed by Leatherhead.

"Don, you ain't coming?" Raph asked.

"I need to make a duplicate for the rest of us. Just in case we need more"

"Alright, we'll call you if we find something" Raph said and joined the others.

 As April waved them good bye, she couldn't help but feel that something was about to happen. She hoped she was wrong, at least this once.

* * *

 

 

Michelangelo woke up lazily after a well deserved nap; it was really dark in his cell which meant it was evening already. He looked around; Leo wasn't there. The orange-clad ninja remembered it was Leo's time to get his daily doses of beating, the thought made the young turtle shiver. He wondered if those men were going to go a little less rough on his brother this time because of his leg but he knew that was as impossible as seeing Shredder dance polka. Mikey just waited and prayed for his brother to be alright. Finally the cell opened; a couple of men threw Leo's beaten body carelessly in the ground and locked the cell again before leaving.

"Leo!" Mikey hurried to his brother's side. Leo could barely move "Oh god… you ok?"

"Peachy"

The youngest turtle helped Leo sit up and noticed the blood pouring from multiple tiny cuts on his brother's chest and arms.

"Here, let me help you with that" Mikey untied his mask and grabbed a bottle of water to soak it and started cleaning the wounds. He knew that wasn't going to be enough but at least it was something

"Mikey, no… your mask…" Leo stopped his brother.

"It's just blood, no big deal. Besides, I have a spare one at home" Mikey replied and continued.

"But… that's your water! They're not gonna give you more till tomorrow" Leo insisted.

"Look Leo, I'm trying to clean your wounds and you're not gonna stop me! Now shut up and let me finish" Mikey gave Leo a serious look and continued his task. The latter sighed and smiled at his brother, it was nice to see his mature side once in a while.

"Thanks Mikey"

Leo noticed Mikey was trying his best to not break down in front of him, his eyes were glassy and full of tears; his baby brother wouldn't resist one more day in that prison not because of the physical tortures, it was the psychological torture that would kill him… seeing his eldest brother suffer… Mikey just couldn't bear it and Leo knew it. Even though the blue-clad ninja's will power was also dying, he had to remain strong for the both of them. A couple of tears rolled down Mikey's face, he wiped them away and continued cleaning the blood off Leo's body.

"Hey, I'm fine. It's just some little cuts" Leo said taking his brother's hand in his, now he could feel it shaking. Mikey hugged himself to his brother's body and let out some tears.

"I can't stand this anymore, Leo. I wanna go home… I wanna see Raph and Donnie and the others!" Mikey started sobbing tightening his grip on Leo.

The blue clad turtle hugged his brother and rubbed his shell trying to soothe him

"I, know; I miss them too"

* * *

 

 

"Hey Casey, any luck?" It was the third time Raph called for news and it was also the third time Casey had the same answer.

"Not really, no. Are you sure this thing is working?"

"Maybe the one not working is your brain" 

"Haha. Very funny" A beeping sound made Casey focus his attention on the tracker. "Hey, talk to you later. I think I found something" 

The beeps increased as the dark haired man ventured further into the dark alleyway. The only light available was the one in the tracker which made Casey ignore that he was being observed very closely. The beeps stopped and the light went off.

"What the…"

Casey didn't see the fist coming to his jaw till he found himself in the ground with some blood on his mouth. From the shadows, a big bulky man came out holding Casey's tracker before smashing it against the wall.

"So you wanna play huh? Ok, let's play"

* * *

 

April paced nervously from side to side; she couldn't brush away the feeling that something was about to happen. "Do you think they found something?"

"I hope so" Don sighed. The genius' cell phone rang and he answered immediately. "Casey?"

_"Tsk, tsk… I am very disappointed Donatello"_

Don froze. That voice again. "What are you doing with Casey's phone?"

 _"Oh, you know who I am already but that is not the topic of this conversation. You have cheated and I am not pleased"_  

"Cheated? What are you talking about?" 

_"It was very clever, I admit… trying to duplicate my trackers and give them to your friends. Very intelligent but… those are not the rules of this game and when you break the rules… you must be punished"_

Don's grip on the phone tightened. "I swear if you did something to them, I'll-" 

_"Easy, easy! You are supposed to be the pacifist, right? I did not harm them… too much"_

The lair's door opened revealing a gravely injured Leatherhead and a very battered and bloody Casey. Donatello couldn't believe his eyes; Leatherhead could barely stand on his feet and Casey was unconscious and bleeding.

 _"Take that as a warning. I gave you two trackers, means only you and the other turtle shall search for your brothers"_  

"But… that'll take us weeks!" Don replied desperately.

 _"Not if you hurry. Remember, it is up to you to save them in time"_ After this, the line went dead. The game was just getting better and better.


	5. Chapter 5

The lair's door opened allowing Raphael to get inside. The place was quiet but he didn't pay attention to that.

It had been a long night but he had found something: three small pieces of what once used to be Mikey's cell phone. He recognized the smiling faces his youngest brother had drawn in the back of his cell phone and one of the pieces had one of those. The red-clad turtle left the pieces and the tracker in the living room's table and moved towards the kitchen; he was a little surprised to see a very thoughtful Don in there drinking coffee.

"Raph? When did you get here?"

"Couple of minutes ago" Raph grabbed a juice from the fridge "Why's this place so quiet? The others here already or what?"

The genius turtle got up and motioned Raph to follow him. Both of them made their way to the lab where April was bandaging Leatherhead; Casey lied in the bed with some bandages as well and bruises all over his body.

"What the hell happened to them?"

"That sicko found out we were using duplicates" Don said closing the lab's door and moving to the living room. "He wants _us_  to find them, not them"

"Well, fuck me..." Raph slumped in the couch folding arms."That bastard knows that'll take us a lifetime right?"

"That's the point"

"...the hell?"

"If we want to find Leo and Mikey alive, we must keep playing with his rules… and have some good old luck by our side"

Raph couldn't believe how Don could be so calm; his friends had been beaten almost to death and his brothers were about to be assassinated and Don remained calm as if nothing had happened.

"How the fuck you can say that so easily?!" Raph finally exploded "Casey's half dead and our brothers are gonna be killed! Heck! They even could defeat LH! Do you even fucking care about this?"

"Oh, so you think this is easy for me? That I don't care about them! Flash news for you: they're my brothers too!"

"At least show something, will you? Like, I don't know, like you care?!" 

"I CARE ABOUT THEM! I just don't let my emotions to dominate me like someone I know" 

"Watch your words, Don. Fearless ain't here to save your ass!" Raph stabbed his finger at Don's chest.

"Guess what? I don't need him to do so; I could beat you right here right now!" 

"Oh yeah? Then show me!"

"Guys enough!" April stood in between "This bickering won't solve anything"

Both turtles glared at each other before turning away. "She's right; we better leave now" 

"Leave?" Raph asked in confusion. Don started packing supplies and gadgets in his emergency bag and also the pieces Raph had found.

"It'll take us less than two weeks to find the pieces if we leave the lair and start searching non-stop"

Half an hour later, Raph and Don were ready to leave though there was still tension between them.

"We'll take the truck and the bike. April, you and Casey should go back to your place and go to the farmhouse" Don said. "That sicko knows where the lair is already and I don't think you'll be safe in your apartment"

"Leatherhead and I decided to stay here in case you need to contact us and we're bring Master Splinter back just in case" April said. 

"Alright, then call me if you…"

"Don, we'll be fine" April hugged the purple clad turtle and smiled at him reassuringly. "Bring them safe guys; I know you can do it"

"Thanks April" Don smiled back and jumped inside the truck. Raph and Don started engines and left the lair ready to spend the whole night searching if it was necessary.

* * *

 

 

"They're on their way sir" a tattooed man informed.

"Excellent" The white suited man got rid of his cigarette and sighed. "I think I'm in the mood for some fun… bring me the turtles"

The tattooed man left his boss' office and returned briefly with Leo and Mikey; both of them had their hands tied behind their backs. "Hey there, pets" 

"We're not your pets, you freak" Leo growled.

"That's not the proper way to talk to your master, _pet_ " The white suited man chuckled.

"Screw you"

The man tsked. "Such bad manners" He snapped his fingers and the tattooed man put a black leather collar in each turtle's neck.

"Hey!" Mikey protested. "What's this thing?" 

"Something that will remind you who your master is and also will teach you some manners"

"You'll never be our master!" Leo said firmly.

The white suited man grinned evilly and pulled out a small remote from his pocket. He pressed it and in a matter of seconds Leo laid in the floor with powerful electrical waves running through his body, making him scream and squirm in pain. The man stopped torturing Leo and knelt beside Mikey.

"You could learn a lot from your young brother. Look at him: he does not show disrespect to me, he stays in silence… sweet, sweet silence and nothing more. Just like the animals you are"

Mikey closed his eyes tightly and remained in silence.

"Or perhaps that is way too much silence… let me hear you sing for me" The white suited man pressed the button and started electrocuting the orange-clad turtle. Mikey's screams of pain filled the room and made his torturer laugh maniacally.

"STOP IT!" Leo yelled and tried to move but the tattooed man pinned him down, his face plastered in the floor.

"That is better… keep singing, pet" The man laughed and increased the intensity. Mikey's screams got louder and louder and some tears escaped from his eyes.

"Please, stop it! Use it on me if you want but leave him alone!" Leo yelled desperately. The man stopped in the act, leaving Mikey panting in the floor.

"I haven't seen or heard you begging for something so badly before... maybe I have found a way to hurt you after all"

The white suited man pressed the button at the maximum level and pointed it at Mikey. Leo pushed his brother away and took the hit; he felt his world explode in pain and screamed loudly, even more than his youngest brother.

"LEO!" Mikey noticed his brother was having a hard time trying to control what his body did because of the electricity. If that sicko didn't stop, Leo could die.

"Please don't hurt him more, please!" Mikey begged.

"Please what?" the white suited man lowered the intensity of the torture on Leo.

Mikey gulped "M-m…"

"Mikey… no…" Leo muttered weakly.

"…master" Mikey said in a barely audible voice.

"That is better" The white suited man patted the young turtle's head. "Good pet" He turned to his henchman. "Get them out of my sight. I've had my fun for today"

* * *

 

 

The tattooed man grabbed the turtles and threw them inside their cell releasing their hands from the ropes that tied them. Leo and Mikey didn't talk for a while; the latter knew that his brother wasn't happy for what he did a few moments ago.

"I can't believe you did it..." 

"Leo-"

"You just accepted that monster…call you his _pet_ and you… you called him master!"

"He was hurting you! I… I didn't know what else to do!" Mikey replied. Leo turned around ignoring him.

"Maybe you don't see it but… you're dying, you're in worse conditions than I am… you're weak, Leo! You could've died in there! I wasn't gonna stay there and do nothing… I did what I did because of you and if you're gonna be mad at me because of that then it's ok because I know I saved your life… and for me that's enough"

The orange-clad turtle sat in a corner and hugged his knees to his chest hiding his face to not reveal the tears rolling down his face. He almost jumped when he felt a green arm sneaking its way around Mikey's shoulders and pulled him close to another being.

"I'm sorry. I just can't stand that man, humiliating us… torturing us… if he wants us dead, why he hasn't killed us already?" 

"You're not giving up, are you? What about Raphie and Donnie? And… father…"

The blue-clad turtle looked at his youngest brother's blue eyes, filled with tears, fear and concern.

"Why do you say that, Leo? About that guy killing us?" Mikey's voice was barely a whisper; his leader, his brother, his protector, his shield… he just couldn't give up, could he?

"Don't pay attention to that; I'm just tired" Leo chuckled "Electricity really messes up your mind, I guess"

"Yeah, right" Mikey chuckled too and let out a yawn.

"Go to sleep, bro" Leo patted his brother's shell and helped him lay down.

"Ok… night Leo" Mikey said and closed his eyes quickly drifting off to sleep.

"Night"

Leo was alone with his thoughts again… at last. What was he thinking when he said that to Mikey? Was he really giving up? Had he lost all his hope in his family… his friends…? Leo looked at his brother, sleeping soundly and peacefully; he just couldn't give up… his baby brother needed him now more than ever but there was a question haunting the blue-clad turtle's mind as he surrendered to tiredness.

" _Do I really want to die?"_


	6. Chapter 6

**Don's POV**

 

We've been searching for hours and we've only found 2 pieces of Mikey's shell cell.  _2 damn pieces_! All this hard work and that's it! That's all!  But it doesn't matter; Raph and I will keep searching.

Speaking of him, after our… argument… things have been pretty tense between us. We only talk about how many cell phone pieces we've found and we only do it by phone. He's going on his bike and I'm in the hauler which helps to keep the distance between us.

Lucky me, after what he said back in the lair the last thing I want is to be near him. The  _nerve_  of him! I fucking care about my brothers! What the hell was he thinking when he said that? Oh well, we're talking about hotheaded Raph here… Mr. Hit first, ask later. My god, he's such an ass. If my brothers weren't about to get killed, I swear I would have cleaned the floor with that smug face of his!

Wait… Don, that didn't sound like you. Well, sure I'm still angry at him for the way he treated me but since when I have vengeful thoughts? Towards my own brother?

Raph  _is_  my brother, we have our arguments but… I had never wished to kick his shell so badly before.

I don't know what's going on with me. Maybe I'm stressed. 

Nevermind, I need to focus on getting Leo and Mikey back soon.

 

* * *

 

 

**Raph's POV**

 

Fucking really, Raph? Really? The hell was I thinking when I said that? Of course Don cares about them but why did I have to be such a dick?

I think I'm just… terrified… yeh, terrified of what could happen to Leo and Mikey. Especially Mikey. Fearless can resist a few test or whatever that sicko is doin' with them but the little knucklehead, he's just… well, he ain't weak but he's too young and… should I say fragile? Well, not in a girly way; that kid can take a few broken bones and keep being annoying but his soul… his spirit…  _that's_  the fragile part I'm worried about.

When I see the bastard who took my brothers, he's gonna regret the day he was born.

Holly shit! Just kicked a fucking wall… Ow, fucking fuck! Hurts like a bitch! My- UGH!

Ok, calm down Raph… just… just try to calm down. You can get angry later. 

I better keep searching; Don ain't gonna be the only one doin' all the job by himself… not after how I treated him. Come to think of it I think I need to apologize. Donnie's as concerned as I am but he just deals better with his emotions. Just like he said.

How am I gonna tell him I'm sorry? Still don't know. I think next time I call him; I'll let him know I didn't mean to treat him like shit.

 

 

* * *

 

**Leo's POV**

 

Tonight's been pretty calm here. No guards, nice food and most importantly: no tortures or beating. That crazy guy must be in a good mood; he usually sends his men to kick our shells before dinner time… after that we're not able to eat anything for a couple of hours because of the pain.

Mikey's a little sore from last beating and there are one or two bruises in his arms that didn't seem to want to disappear; I think he'll have those permanently but at least he's smiling… a little but it's a smile still.

Watching him sleep without those nightmares once in a while is perfect and since the amount of food was correct this time, I didn't have to give him my part of the meal. Not that I'm complaining but… c'mon, I can also get hungry! But if it's for one of my bros, I wouldn't mind to die for starvation.

Heh… that sounded gloomy.

Speaking of my bros, I wonder how Raph and Don are doing without us. Well, they hardly ever argue so I believe Raph must be pretty bored and I think Don's more than glad that electronics in the lair are not getting broken or destroyed every single second. But maybe I could be wrong. Sensei told me that when I was in Central America, Raph and Don's arguments were almost daily but not as bad as my and Raph's arguments. 

I thought that my absence would help them to get to know each other a little more but there was no improvement. Now that Mikey and I are gone, I wonder if they're arguing again.

Fucking collar, can't get rid of it! I feel like a dog! Damn… skin's irritated, I think.

I hope Mikey's doing better than me.

 

 

* * *

 

**Mikey's POV**

 

Man, it's good to go to bed with your stomach full! Now I know what Klunk feels after a nice meal. Hehe, aww… my kitty… I hope Donnie's taking care of him since daddy Mikey is here trapped.

Shell, this thing is annoying! Not to mention painful! I think this is why dogs don't like collars; these things hurt, itch and I think I have some… blood? Huh, funny… didn't know electrical leather collars could rip the skin. Maybe it's because it's too tight but I can't get this thing off me!

Well, at least we weren't beaten today, that's the nice part… Oh! And the food was good too! Most importantly, finally Leo could have a  _complete_  dinner. This guy is getting skinnier than me, I don't like to see him like that.

Where are you guys? Raphie… Donnie… sensei… I don't think they just forget us. What if… what if this sicko told them that we're dead so they stopped searching?

Oh gosh… c'mon Mikey, be positive!

I know they're out there looking for us and they'll rescue us; I know it! We'll be home soon and we'll just forget all this nightmare. And then I'll be back to my Klunkers, my videogames, comics, my nachos… but most importantly… I'll be back home with the people I love.

I just wish they'd hurry up.

 


	7. Chapter 7

After a good night of peaceful sleep, the captive turtles felt revitalized and renovated. Also a little surprised when that morning the guards didn't drag them out for the routinary beating but brought them more trays with food instead.

"Uhmm… bro, you might wanna pinch me cuz I think I'm dreaming" Mikey said. There was enough food for more than two and everything looked provocative.

"I don't know, Mikey. I have a bad feeling about this. What if it's poisoned?"

"Who cares! It's free, smells good and after all it's breakfast time!"

"Mikey, don't…!" Leo warned his brother but the latter was already eating.

"C'mon Leo! This definitely is not poisoned. Everything tastes good!" Mikey said while eating happily.

"You sure?" Leo asked but Mikey was too busy stuffing his mouth with food.

"Why do I bother asking you?" Leo sighed and joined his brother; he had to… before Mikey ate everything.

 

* * *

 

After a whole night of searching Don had decided to park the BattleShell in a dark alley and had fallen asleep in the driver's seat. A thin line of drool started coming out from the genius turtle's mouth and making its way to the hauler's wheel. It was in that position Raph found him in the morning; the red masked turtle chuckled and got inside the truck holding a paper bag full of groceries.

"Morning"

At the sound of Raph's voice, Don woke up in a blink rubbing the back of his neck trying to get rid of the stiffness on the area. "Morning Raph" Don yawned.

"Brought you breakfast" Raph handed him another paper bag with Don's food inside.

"Where did you get this?" Don asked groggily.

"There's a store near and I used some money of my savings" Raph said giving a bite to his sandwich. Now a little bit more awake, Don realized: Raph had gone out… on daylight?

"Did someone…"

"No, nobody saw me. Chill out and eat" Raph answered.

The genius turtle wasn't so pleased with the idea of his red-clad brother going out in the morning but at least he didn't cause trouble and people apparently didn't noticed him. Although Don was grateful that thanks to Raph they would had breakfast and some snacks for the rest of the trip, he still remembered last night's discussion. Don had been so focused trying to find the cell phone's pieces that he hadn't had time to think about it till now. On the other hand, Raph knew he had to say something sooner or later; after all, he had started the whole thing.

"Don… about last night…" 

"I know, we didn't have luck with those pieces but I know we'll find more" 

"Wasn't talking about that"

"Then what?" 

"You know… lair, argument…"

"Oh… yeah, I remember" Silence… that goddamned silence again. 

Raph sighed heavily.  "Look, I didn't mean what I said. Not a single word"

"How can I know you're being serious?" Don replied with a mild glare.

"Being serious? Don, you know I would never fight you… that's Leo's cue, not yours" Raph said; it was even possible that Don didn't believe him? The latter just looked absentmindedly at his cup of coffee.

"What I'm trying to say is that last night I acted like a complete jerk…" Raph continued "…and I shouldn't have yelled at you and threatened you and stuff; I know you're as worried as I am"

"I'm sorry too"

"For what? Being honest?"

"I also threatened you" 

"That's called a reply, genius" Raph grinned. 

"Well, to me it was a threat and I'm sorry for that" Don insisted. The tension between them started to vanish… good sign so far.

"So… we're cool again?" Raph asked hoping for an affirmative answer.

"Yeah… sure" Don shrugged. Again, the silence filled the truck; that was the most awkward apologize ever, both turtles were thinking but it was an apology nonetheless.

"Uhmm… I think we should start searching again" Don said after a while.

"Don, I don't think I can use the bike"

"Why?"

"Daylight… people… mutant turtle… ring a bell?" 

"Oh… right, right! Well, just… take a seat. I'll drive" Don said while taking his place in the driver's seat.

"You drove the whole night, you must be exhausted" Raph commented noticing the bags under Don's eyes; not even the mask had been able to hid them pretty well.

"I'll be fine" Don said grabbing the wheel.

"You should sleep" Raph insisted grabbing Don's hand preventing him to start the engines.

"Raph, I can drive. Besides, we all know your driving skills are… not trustable" 

"Ouch, right in the feelings" That little joke made Don chuckle and so did Raph; they both shared a smile before Raph took the keys from his brother's hand. "I'm serious, Donnie. Go to sleep; I promise I'll drive carefully"

"Ok… thanks" Don let out a long yawn and went to the back of the truck where a mat was placed with some blankets. He gladly sunk on it and surrendered to sleep.

Before he started engines, Raph made sure all the windows were up and the doors locked. Don had made sure the glasses were replaced with smoked-glass so nobody would see them. Once Raph finished checking every detail, he started the search again with his own fears of being discovered. The red masked ninja hated more and more the man that was behind all this sick game but for his brothers, he'd risk even his own neck.

 

* * *

 

The doors of the cell were Leo and Mikey were captive opened revealing a tall guy in a dark t-shirt. "You two; follow me"

"I knew we weren't gonna have it easy" Leo whispered as he walked through the dark corridor.

"Well, I don't think they wanna "play" with us right now unless they want to redecorate the room. Ugh, ate too much" Mikey whispered back. Both turtles were more than surprised when the doors opened and sunlight welcomed them.

Mikey rubbed his eyes trying to adjust them to the light. "What is this place?" 

"The master's garden; he allowed you to stay here till night comes" The guy said and went back inside the gray building.

"Leo, look!" In the middle of the garden there was a wooden table; a bokken and a pair of wooden tonfas rested on it. "Why would someone leave wooden weapons here?"

"Not sure but we can use this for some training" Leo said grabbing the bokken.

"Aww man! First time we get out that creepy cell and all you wanna do is train?" Mikey whined.

"If we train enough, we might be able to take those guards down and escape. Haven't you thought of that?" Leo folded arms.

"Uhmm… I guess not" Mikey grinned sheepishly.

"C'mon, we'll start with some easy exercises to warm up" Leo said while taking his battling pose. Little did they know that they were not alone. 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Raph's POV**

 

Well, seems like things are nice between brainiac and me. Dunno; apparently he's ok but I kinda sense… heh, listen to me; I'm talking like Leo: _I am Mr. Meditation and I have the power of saying you are not alright!_  Haha.

What was I saying? Oh right, I think Don's just pretending we're cool so this whole searching thing doesn't get too awkward or uncomfortable during the day and afternoon. But maybe it's just my stupid paranoia.

The hell? Paranoid… me? Fuck, we better find the guys soon. I'm talking shit here!

By the way, I just got a call from April. Sensei's feeling a little better now but he ain't leaving his room or eating normally. He's still… uh… "depressed", you know?

And don't blame him; we all are a little down. I mean, think about it: 3 months of not seeing your brothers; then a sicko leaves a tape with some twisted info, half kills your friends and makes us risk our security in order to find some shitty pieces of either Mikey's or Leo's cell phone and we gotta do it in record time so they won't get killed.

Tell me if that ain't depressing as fuck.

 

* * *

 

**Don's POV**

 

Well, paint my shell pink and call me Dona. Raph was right, I needed to sleep. Feeling like a brand new turtle right now. But how much did I sleep?

8 pm already? Why Raph didn't wake me up!

…

_"Before you say something, I didn't wake you up cuz you were deep asleep , drooling all over the pillow and if I remember well you said you should never wake up someone who's sleeping that deep"_

…

Wow, he actually paid attention to me when I said that. Oh well, I won't be ungrateful. After all, I  _needed_  to sleep so badly!

By the looks of it, Raph's been collecting the pieces all this time. If we keep going like this, we'll find Leo and Mikey by next week… maybe next Friday.

Wait a second… this doesn't look like New York anymore.

 

* * *

 

"Raph, where are we?"

"Pennsylvania" Raph said while parking the truck in a dark alley.

"How the hell did we get here?" Don asked trying his best to stay calmed.

"Don't look at me; the stupid tracker said next 4 pieces were here"

"Well, at least we're almost done with this"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I started to put the pieces together and I think I can repair the cell phone"

"Ok but how do we know Leo and Mikey have a shell cell too?"

"Hadn't thought of that" Don groaned. "That lunatic sure is making this complicated"

"No time for complaining, genius" Raph said and sat on his bike while Don opened the back door.

"Make sure nobody…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know that already. Take care of yourself" With this, Raph abandoned the hauler full speed. Don's cell phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

_"Don? It's me, April"_

"Oh, hi… how are you? How's everything in the lair?"

_"Well, I told Raph that Master Splinter's pressure is going back to normal but he's not fully recovered. So, you guys having any luck?"_

"So far, yes but we're not in New York right now" 

_"Then where?"_

"Pennsylvania, can you believe it?" Don could almost imagine the surprised expression on April's face right now.

_"No way… need any back up? Casey and I could go with the copter. By the way, he's out of danger now"_

"Finally some good news. And no thanks April; you stay there with the others. If my calculations are correct, we should find all the pieces by next Friday… and with that, I hope we find the guys too"

April sighed. _"Yeah, we all hope for that"_  

Don's tracking device glowed revealing three more pieces near an abandoned building. "April, I gotta go now; I think I found another piece"

 

 

* * *

 

 

Both turtles had been out their dark cells the whole day. It was getting dark now which meant they had to go back inside; Mikey wasn't so happy with the idea but he had enjoyed being out, away from the darkness of the cell he shared with Leo.

"Sure you missed training, huh Leo?" the orange-clad ninja smirked at his eldest brother who had just finished performing another kata.

"Won't deny it, though I still feel a little rusty" Leo said wiping the sweat away from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Why do you think that guy brought us here exactly?" Mikey asked. "And the food and the weapons and the fresh air?" 

"I still think this is kind of a trick but we can't let down our guard" 

"And you do well in not doing so, my pet" A voice from behind made him jump back in slight surprise.

He turned around just to meet the dark smile on their captor's face; the man was alone… Leo didn't hesitated on attacking him so he tightened his hold on the wooden sword and prepared to hit him hard but the white suited man had read Leo's intentions on his face. Leo didn't understand how but the next thing he felt was a sharp pain all over his body that made him knelt in the ground.

"Tsk, tsk… bad Leonardo, very bad" The white suited man chuckled and showed him a small remote. Leo now remembered it. That fucking collar was still on his neck.

"After all the attentions and you still keep being aggressive. I shall remedy that soon but first… I'm in the mood for a little game"

"I knew this day wasn't gonna end good"

"You amuse me, Michelangelo. I think I should keep you as my favorite pet" The man laughed. Mikey cringed and the cruel term; he was no pet for fuck's sake! It was humiliating to hear being called that way but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Hmm… but I can't have favorites" The man grabbed Leo's chin tilting his head up to meet his dark brown gaze. "Poor Leonardo would feel rejected… wouldn't you Leonardo?"

The blue masked ninja growled at his captor and gave him a piercing glare. What wouldn't he do for being able to place his hands around that sick man's neck and destroy him once and for all! But he had been already handcuffed and so was Mikey. The white suited man walked inside the building being followed by his henchmen and both turtles. Mikey noticed the disappointed and defeated expression his brother's face wore; he didn't like seeing his brother like this. Both turtles' eyes made connection and the youngest one gave Leo an encouraging smile; the latter returned the gesture the best he could. He felt glad Mikey was there with him trying to make him feel better.

The doors of a new room opened, it seemed to be sort of a battling arena. In a corner of the room there was a metal table with some objects Leo and Mikey easily recognized; the handcuffs on their hands were removed and the white suited man indicated to follow him.

"I believe those are yours?"

"My swords!" 

"My chucks! My babies, daddy missed you!" Mikey ran to grab his nunchucks, kissing them repeatedly.

"Isn't that cute? My pets enjoy their toys~ Now, here is the fun part: as much as I adore being the reason of your suffering this time it won't be me… such a pity"

"Let me guess: you hired new henchmen cuz the others are getting old?" Mikey said bitterly.

"Dear, dear pet… you always manage to make me laugh" The man chuckled. "Anyway, let us continue: I couldn't help but see you playing in the garden and I thought… my pets shouldn't be playing with such inferior toys. That's why I brought you here" the man said walking around the place.

"Ok?" Leo and Mikey looked at each other in confusion. The man pointed his walking stick at Leo's chest.

"You two are going to be good pets and will give your master a good show and I will give you the chance that only one of you comes out of this place conscious… kinda" 

"You gotta be kidding me" Leo narrowed eyes. Again, pain all over his body caused by the electrical powerful waves coming from the black collar on the leaf skinned turtle's neck.

"Does that sound like I'm kidding?" 

"Stop it!" Mikey interfered "We'll do it but please leave him alone!"

The electric discharge lowered its intensity gradually until it stopped allowing Leo to stand up weakly grabbing his swords again reluctantly. The torturer disappeared inside a cabin which ended up being an elevator; he entered into a special room full of screens and took a sit in a big comfortable brown armchair.

"Now, pets… let the game begin" The man announced through the speaker.

"Mikey, I can't do this"

"Neither can I but…"

"And just to let you know: I will be observing your moves closely and I don't like to be tricked, my pets. Either you play for real or I'll make sure none of you leaves this arena alive" the man said threateningly.

The blue and the orange clad ninjas looked at each other for a while before they started walking away and taking their places in order to begin the match.

"I'm so sorry Mikey"

"I'm sorry too Leo"


	9. Chapter 9

Don hadn’t been so lucky on his search this time; there were some little obstacles on his way like traffic, some drunken or careless drivers he had to avoid and the emotional exhaustion. He was hungry, tired and stressed so he called it a night. But before he went to sleep, he had to call Raph to come back to the hauler.

 “So, had any luck so far?” 

 _“Found one so far but I’m running outta gas here”_  

“Need me to pick you up?” 

_“Nah, there’s enough gas for one last ride so I can go back by myself”_

The sound of trash cans being hit coming from a dark alley caught Raph’s attention for a second. At first he thought it might be a cat or a dog… possibilities were infinite. He really didn’t care if it was some drunken/drugged guy or whore; the red masked ninja’s tracker started beeping insistently; that was definitely not a drunken whore. Raph turned the tracker off to not alert whoever was in there… maybe waiting for him, maybe not. The dark skinned turtle peeked in and noticed someone with a piece of the broken device he and Don had been looking for. Raph dialed his brother.

_ “Hello?” _

“Don, we have a suspect here” Raph informed “Just saw this baldie in black t-shit putting another part of the shell cell” 

 _“And your plan is?”_  

 “Imma follow him, duh!” 

_“Oh no, you won’t! Tell me where are you and we will get him together”_

_The man in the alley was leaving, no time for reinforcements. “Ain’t got time, Don. Sorry”_

_“Raph, don’t you…!”_ The line went dead. Mentally, Don cursed at his brother’s stupidity but also hoped nothing went wrong. 

“Well, well, well…” Raph jumped in front of the surprised man “…didn’t know trash could walk outta the can” 

The man dropped the piece of cell phone and started running. Raph picked the piece but that wasn’t enough to calm him down; if that guy worked for the sicko that held his brothers captive, he had to know something or at least could blow off some steam using him as his punch bag to say the least. The red masked ninja couldn’t chase that scum in the streets even though the night was pretty dark, he didn’t want any curious eyes noticing he was a big talking turtle so climbed the building and jumped through the rooftops cutting the bald man’s way with shurikens and flying stars. On the other side, Don drove checking out all the alleys in order to find his brother; he almost panicked when he saw Raph’s bike parked next to some trash cans and there was no sign of Raph anywhere. He tried tracking him but Raph’s tracker was dead and so was his shell cell.

Things were just getting better and better.

 

* * *

 

“Nowhere to run, ugly. Now, you better start talking: where are my brothers?”  

“You ain’t getting nothing from me, freak!” The man replied and ran towards the dark green skinned turtle with his fists ready.

 Raph dodged the attacks but caught a hard punch on his stomach that left him breathless for a moment. The bald man aimed for another punch but Raph sent a kick to the man’s legs making him fall immediately. The dark dressed man tried to get up but Raph pinned him down and pressed his sai down the man’s chin. 

“Where are my brothers?!” Raph growled.

 “Why don’t you join them instead?”

 A sharp pain on his side made Raph gasp and lose the grip on his weapon allowing the man to run away. He could felt something warm coming from his body and running to the ground; the red masked turtle pressed the burning area just to feel the stickiness of blood, a lot of blood.

 Meanwhile, Don was on the verge of panic looking everywhere for his reckless brother with no sucess. The genius turtle wasn’t pessimist but now he had started to think the worse.So focused on the search of his hotheaded brother, he didn’t see the man running across the street until it was too late.

 

“SHIT!” Don hit the brakes but the body rolled off the front of the hauler falling on the ground hard. 

“Oh my god… I… he … calm down, Don. Just calm down” The genius turtle came out of the truck slowly; he had to check if the man was really dead even though his mind told him to run away from the scene but he wasn’t like those criminals he saw on the news. 

Just as expected, the man was dead. His legs and arms hung in odd positions confirming fractures; there was a considerably large crack on his head, his eyes were wide opened and blood came out from the man’s lips.

“Wait a second…” Don pointed the flashlight at the corpse; the man’s right hand held a knife with some blood on it. Now his brain made connection. The man he had just hit was the man Raph had described on the phone.

 “Raph?”

 

 

 

* * *

 

The purple-clad ninja hid the body on the back of the truck until he could find a place to bury it. Raph was hurt and Don wasn’t going to waste time burying the scum that could’ve been the reason that the only brother he had for now might be dying in some dirty alley. Don drove a little more and found blood tracks, fresh ones. Raph had to be there… or around there.

Don jumped out of the hauler “Raph! You there?”

 “…D-Don…” Raph was lying on his good side while pressing the wound on the other but he was already very pale. "O-over here!"

 The genius turtle ran towards him, falling to his knees beside his brother. “Stay awake, ok?” He patted Raph’s cheek while he untied his belt and improvised a tourniquet.

 “…t-trying” Raph smiled weakly, wincing when Don tightened the belt around his wound.

 “Can you walk?”

 “I-I… guess” Raph felt a little dizzy but he managed to get up and give a few steps with Don’s help. 

Once they arrived to the hauler, Don started treating the wound properly. Luckily, the wound wasn’t deep and no organs had been pierced. All Raph needed to do was rest. The purple-clad ninja helped Raph to lay down in the mattress before he started engines again and drove as fast as he could; now he had to find a place to bury the body of the man he had hit. Don didn’t feel good but didn’t feel bad either for have hitting him now; he had hurt his brother but on the other hand, he was just a pawn on the real villain’s game.

Sun would come out pretty soon, Don had to hurry. He dug a deep hole and placed the body inside to cover it with dirt as fast as he could.

 “Sorry pal… but you kinda deserved it”

 Once the  job was done, Don got inside the truck and drove away.


	10. Chapter 10

Blood stained the walls, floor and weapons; bruises in every inch of their bodies, sweat drops making their wounds sting; their legs refused to move and their muscles ached horribly bad. It was crystal clear that Leo and Mikey weren’t in conditions to keep fighting both physically and psychologically; the idea of hurting each other made the fight even harder. This wasn’t like their routinary sparring sessions at all; each attack was hard and precise. This was a deplorable, humiliating and heart wrenching scene to see yet only one person seemed to be heartless enough to laugh and enjoy this sadistic battle.

  _“Now, now my pets. You must continue”_   

“We can’t… we’ve been fighting for hours” Leo panted.

 "Yeah… couldn’t we… take a little break?” Mikey seconded. There was silence for a moment before the voice spoke again.

_“Two minutes”_

 Both turtles slumped on their hands and knees panting heavily, sweat and blood staining the ground. Mikey had bruises and small cuts on his arms, a considerable large gash on his leg and a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Leo was mostly bruised, a few minor slashes caused by the nunchacks’ chains but nothing too serious. This fight was stupid, pointless, unfair and uneven.

 “Dude, this... this asshole... won’t leave... us alone” Mikey panted heavily. “Three hours fighting… that’s gotta be a new record!” 

 “How’s your leg?” Leo asked worriedly.

 Mikey shrugged. “Fine, I guess” 

 “There has to be a way we can fool him” 

 “But how? There are cameras all over the place and I bet he's watching everything!”

 “Maybe you’re right… but we can’t keep doing this!” 

  _“Your time is almost over, my pets”_ The voice in the speaker announced.

 “Look Mikey, I’ll give you one of my swords. We’ll be even that way” Leo offered.

 “You should’ve thought of that before we started fighting” Mikey said in a not so amused voice. 

 “I wasn’t thinking clearly! May I remind you I was electrocuted before coming here?”  

_“30 seconds”_

Leo sighed heavily; he didn’t know exactly what to do. Mikey was more tired than him, there was no chance he could win this battle unless something good came to Leo’s mind… which wasn’t the case. All the stress and tiredness were making Leo’s brain work harder in order to figure out a good solution but it wasn’t really working.

 “Mikey, you have to win this… I’ll help you, ok? Just pay attention to the signs and-”   

 “Not happening bro”

 “What?”

 “If you let me win, he’ll know… and who knows what he could do to you, to us! We have to keep it real” Mikey commented. He did have a point on that one but Leo didn’t like that plan.

 “I don’t think that’s a good idea” The blue-clad ninja said uneasily.

  _“Time’s up; let’s the game continue”_

 The orange-clad ninja picked up his nunchacks and prepared himself for the next round. 

“Well, no time for second thoughts. I guess” Mikey sighed; the concern and hesitation reflected on Leo’s face made give a reassuringly smile at his brother hoping it’d be enough to comfort him.

 “Relax Leo, I’m the fastest turtle alive remember?” 

 “Yeah… sure” Leo smiled. This was the Mikey he knew, always smiling and being cheerful for the both of them. “Good luck Mikey”

 “Back at you, bro”

 The order of proceeding was given and both turtles launched their attacks with more precision this time now their bodies had rested a little. Leo’s katanas clashed with Mikey’s nunchaks chains more than once creating little sparkles. The orange-clad turtle maneuvered to trap one of both Leo’s swords between the chains and with a spin he discarded the deadly weapon sending it to the other side of the room. The eldest turtle looked at the youngest in surprise and admiration; Leo tried to recover his katana but Mikey’s quick moves and precise hits made this task impossible. Michelangelo was actually the fastest turtle, he had to admit. Leo continued fighting dodging the punches and kicks Mikey aimed at any part of his body; one hit in particular made the blue-clad turtle lost balance and fall to ground flat on his plastron.

Minutes passed and Mikey had earned a new cut to his collection, a considerable large gash on his right arm but though it hurt horribly, it wasn’t deep enough to make him bleed profusely. Leo couldn’t help it, sometimes he focused too much on his own thoughts, pretending he was fighting some Foot Ninja, Shredder or even the man that tortured them and not his baby brother but every time he heard a hiss of pain or a little yelp, Leo went back to reality and found out he had made another cut on his brother’s skin and his innocent blood stained his most closest possession once again. On the other hand, though Mikey showed a serious face (sometimes angry) while fighting, he was terrified he wouldn’t be fast enough to escape from Leo’s blades and end up with a sword sticking out of his shell. The thought made the young ninja shiver and had distracted him a little. The blue-clad ninja took advantage of Mikey’s moment of doubt to kick the nunchacks off his hands, leaving the youngest turtle weaponless.

Mikey’s nunchaks were too far away and Leo’s final blow was just a few inches away from him; he started to panic. What could he do? He couldn’t back flip his way to his weapons, it would be a waste of time and Leonardo could kick him of slash him in the process. Mikey didn’t want to feel those blades on his body anymore, leave alone having them piercing his flesh. Then, in a moment of desperation, his blue eyes landed on the lonely katana he had discarded a few minutes ago. He rolled in the ground a couple of times and grabbed the sword with both hands, raised it and closed his eyes tightly.

Mikey breathed in and out rapidly, his panted breaths were the only thing that could be heard for a while before a groan coming from above his head made him open his eyes. The first thing he saw was his brother’s legs really close to him, almost touching his nose but something wasn’t right; it seemed that his brother had frozen just in front of him.

“Leo?”

The orange masked turtle didn’t dare to look up but a sticky and warm substance slowly touching his fingers made him tilt his head to meet his brother’s gaze. The image he saw would haunt him for months: the sword had stabbed Leo right in the middle of his plastron. Leo’s other sword hit the floor, his mouth was slightly opened with some blood coming from it and his eyes were starting to close. Mikey got up in a blink helping his brother lay down, even though he was in the verge of tears; he couldn’t allow himself to breakdown now, Leo needed him.

 “L-Leo… Leo, please bro… stay with me!” Mikey whispered to his brother while tying his belt around the blade. He remembered Don saying in cases like that it was better to leave to blade inside to not risk more blood lost.

 “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry bro! I didn’t mean it, I swear!” Mikey sobbed, keeping pressure around the improvised padding. Leo’s eyes twitched and his breathing was shallow.

 The doors of the arena opened wide as the criminal mind behind all this came out to greet the winner. “Congratulations Michelangelo! You did well” 

 “Please, help him! He’s badly injured!”

 “Who? That pathetic loser? You must be out of your mind, champion. You won, he lost! Besides, it’s the rules: only one would leave this arena conscious… I never said what would be of the loser’s fate” The man smiled cruelly.

 “I’ll do anything you ask, anything! Just please, don’t let him die!” Mikey pleaded. 

“Are you sure you would risk anything for that poor excuse of turtle?” The man poked Leo’s body with his cane. Mikey angrily swatted it away.

 “Watch your words; he’s my brother! And besides, it’s my fault he’s hurt… I hurt him” Mikey lowered his head in shame. He had actually _stabbed_ Leonardo, his protector, his leader, his eldest brother and hero; his panic and fear had taken over him making him do such atrocity. The white suited man looked at the scene coldly but suddenly a smirk appeared on his face.

 “Very well; I will take care of your brother…”

 Mikey’s face brightened at the sound of those words. Perhaps there was still some hope left. 

 “…but I want something in exchange”

 All hope vanished slowly when Mikey noticed his torturer walking around him like a vulture and those words sure didn’t sound promising. “W-what is it?” He asked hesitantly.

 “It is very rare to find turtles with blue eyes, Michelangelo not to say… impossible” The man hissed. The youngest turtle had a bad feeling about this.

 “What do you mean?”

 “I want your eyes as payment” The man grinned grabbing Mikey’s chin to meet his gaze.

“What?!” Mikey jumped back making sure his hands didn’t stop pressing the padding.

“Now, come to think of it… you _did_ win this game. It would not be fair to leave you blind”

Mikey’s face was paler and paler by the minute. There was no way he was letting this sicko take his eyes; who knows what kind of things he could do with them and he seriously wasn’t anxious to know.

“I’ll have to conform myself with just one of your eyes” The man smirked.

“Dude, seriously. That’s not cool!”

 “Do you want your brother to die?” The torturer said harshly.

“No!” Mikey yelled, some tears rolling down his face.

“Then make a choice… and you better do it quickly. Leonardo is losing a lot of blood” The man said pretending concern. “Deal or no deal?”

The man had his hand extended towards Michelangelo. The latter fought internally with himself: Leo was dying because of him, it was a fair deal, to be honest. His eye in exchange of his brother’s life… and he had another one, Leo, on the other hand, didn’t have much time. Mikey shook his blood stained hand with his torturer’s. The deal had been sealed.

“Take Leonardo to the infirmary and make sure his wounds are treated properly” the white suited man ordered. A couple of men took Leo’s body, the bleeding now partially stopped, and rushed to the infirmary.

Mikey still knelt in the sticky floor, staring at his bloody hands. He started to feel sick, nausea and dizziness taking over him, he was about to hyperventilate when the dark voice of his captor snapped him out his thoughts.

“It’s such a pity I can’t take both your eyes but I think your left one will do perfectly”

Oh right, the deal; for a moment he had forgotten about that. Mikey had chosen his fate, there was no turning back. Besides, this maniac had ordered his men to take care of Leo. Splinter had raised his children to be honorable… the young ninja had to keep his word.

 “Alright… but make it quick” Mikey said after a long sigh. In less than a second, a strong hand was placing Mikey’s hands behind his shell and the other one tugging Mikey’s mask tilting his head backwards in a very painful way.

“Oh, it’ll be quick” The man chuckled and pulled out a scalpel. “But it won’t be painless”


	11. Chapter 11

**Raph’s POV**

Where the hell am I? Last thing I remember was the alley… I had that fuckface just where I wanted and I think I asked him for my brothers’ location. Whatever happened after that, I don’t remember. Ok, maybe I do remember pain on my side and I think I was bleeding? That son of a bitch must’ve had a knife or something. Why I didn’t see that coming?

Aww crap, just remembered I left my bike behind! My poor baby…

Don’s gonna kill me when he finds out. He worked on that bike for hours last time I crashed it. 

In my defense, it wasn't not my fault. Mikey wanted me to teach him some tricks and then some Purple Dragons started shooting at us; I had to throw something at them and… well… it had to be my bike. Poor choice but it was worthy.

Ow! Dammit, hurts to move!

… smells like coffee. Don’s coffee. I must be in the BattleShell but how?

 

_“So, you finally woke up...”_

 

Why do I get the feeling shit's about to go down...?

* * *

 

 

Raph blinked slowly trying to adjust to the dim light around him. He was lying on the mattress he'd thrown inside the truck but this wasn’t in the truck anymore, didn't feel like the truck at all. Wooden walls and broken windows surrounded the red-clad turtle. Definitely an abandoned house.

Beside him, there was his purple masked brother looking at him, expressionless, and holding a cup of coffee. 

“Hey Don” Raph smiled weakly.  

“Well, at least you’re out of danger now. I can finally get some shut eye” Don started to walk away. “By the way, you’ve been sleeping the whole day” 

Now a little more awake and aware of his surroundings, Raph could confirm he was in an abandoned house and it was nighttime again. He also felt a little pain on his side and now he noticed the bandage around that area. The loud sound of the door being closed harshly made the red-clad turtle come back to reality; something was definitely wrong with Donatello. Raph decided to follow his brother downstairs ignoring the constant pain on his side. He found Don sitting in a very old couch with his head resting on his hands.

“Hey, something wrong buddy?” Raph asked a little hesitantly.

 “Oh yeah, just peachy! Fucking peachy” 

 Raphael had never been scared of anything but his genius brother’s deep, angry voice and fiery eyes made his blood freeze. He tried to remember the last events before he passed out on that alley… The thought hit him like a brick. He sat beside his brother, the latter didn’t even flinch and focused his attention on a random spot in the wall.

 

“Donnie… look, about yesterday-”

 “-Don’t even mention it” Don interrupted him abruptly.

 “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry…” Raph continued. “…I shouldn’t have…”

 “I should have left you there” Don said coldly. Raph looked at him in disbelief. He just couldn’t believe it, he _refused_ to believe his gentle brother had said such words and possibly without regrets. 

“Excuse me?” Raph finally spoke after what it seemed an eternity.

 “That was a stupid move you did yesterday and you do a lot of stupid ones”  

“Hey! Hold it-”

 “-I told you to wait for me!” Don yelled, standing up in one swift move. “I fucking told you we could bring that guy down together. _Together!_ Do you even know the meaning of that word?!” 

Raph stood up wincing, the wound on his side burning. “Relax, Donnie! I-”

 “-Don’t tell me to _relax_!” Don pushed Raph away. “You don’t know what else could have happened there if I hadn’t had found you on time!”

 The red-clad turtle grunted, feeling his wound reopening slightly. “So the guy had a knife, big deal. But look at me now, I’m fine!” 

“Yes, sure! But you’re alive because of me!”

 “And now you want a gold star for that?!”

Don’s inhalations were short and sharp; he felt his blood boiling in anger but he still had a little of self control in reserve. “Get out"

 The purple-clad turtle walked towards a small table; he picked something and threw it at his brother. Raph’s ninja reflexes allowed him to catch the object, avoiding his face. He opened his hand and noticed Don had just thrown him the bike’s keys. He felt a hand grabbing his arm tightly and almost dragging him towards the exit door.

 “The bike’s repaired and has enough fuel for a week. Should be good enough because all we need now it’s to find the two last pieces” Don informed as Raph managed to free himself from his brother’s grip and confronted him.

 “You can’t just fucking throw me out!” 

 “You seem to work perfectly on your own. Now get out and don’t call unless you find something!”

 Don turned around giving his back to his brother. The latter stepped forward closing the distance between his brother and him; Don stiffened when he felt Raph’s hand on his shoulder

“I ain’t leaving until we solve things out” Raph said while turning Don back to face him. 

“I said I don’t want to discuss anything with you!” Don slapped Raph's hand away.

“And I say I ain’t leaving!” Raph yelled banging his fist on the old table which collapsed at the impact. Don turned around when he heard a metal artifact clashing in the ground, smashing into pieces. It was the shell cell he was trying to repair in order to find his lost brothers.

 “Look what you’ve done!”

“Me? You caused this; you and your damn pms-ing! I thought I was working with a ninja, not with a pussy!”  

The next move was fast and unexpected; Don stamped his fist on Raph’s face, the red masked ninja had been totally caught out of guard. Don took advantage of this and dragged Raphael out of the house once and for all. When Raph’s dizziness dissipated, he heard the door slamming shut behind him.

 “Don!” Raph banged on the door repeatedly “Don, open the door!”

 He tried to kick the door down but Donatello was behind, preventing his brother to do something. “Open the door or I’ll tear it down!” Raph threatened.

 “Good luck with that. You can barely stand straight with all the blood you lost, you moron!” Don yelled. Raph hated to admit his brother was right; he was still weak and could barely stand up.

 “Very clever, genius! Sending your brother out in this condition… and you call yourself the smart one?” 

“You’re always bragging you’re so strong and brave and invincible! Prove it! NOW LEAVE!” Don shouted as loud as he could.

 “Well, I’m not leaving till you open this door!” Raph folded arms and stood defiantly in front of the door.

 “Suit yourself!”

 

* * *

 

**Raph’s POV**

 

Who the fuck does he think he is?! He can’t just throw me out and get away with it! Oh no, he’s so gonna get it when I’m totally healed.

Fucking nerd, it was just a fucking stab! I wasn’t bleeding that much. Well, sure I’m a little dizzy and cold… and I feel a bit tired… and hungry…

Ok, ok! Maybe I’m not in my best shape but that doesn’t give him the right to kick me out and order me to continue the search by my own! Heck, _Don_ giving _me_ orders? Not in this shitty life! I don’t even listen to Leo sometimes and genius wants me to listen to _him_? HAH! 

And I just remembered… the lil’ shit punched me in the face! What the fuck!

That did it; that totally did it! I’m gonna have a few _words_ with that cry baby, I’ll let him know who the older brother is!

* * *

 

 

It was almost dawn when Raph woke up; he didn’t know how or when he had fallen asleep but little did that matter now. It was payback time. Raph looked around the house hoping to find another way to get inside without warning Don and soon he found it: a broken window located in what once was a kitchen. Once inside, Raph looked at his surroundings but didn’t see his purple-clad brother there. He decided to check upstairs. He opened the door very slowly and noticed his little brother moving constantly in the bed and it seemed he was mumbling something; for a moment he thought it was Mikey the one in the bed. The image of his baby brother came to his mind and all trace of anger vanished in that moment.

Mikey… his baby brother… he wouldn’t want his brothers to be distanced like this. Raph knew he couldn’t get mad with Don, he was his little brother too and now Don needed him. The red-clad ninja walked towards the bed and placed a hand on Don’s shoulder shaking him gently.

“Don?”

The purple-clad ninja had his eyes tightly closed and cold sweat ran through his forehead.

“Donnie, wake up!” Raph shook him insistently until the sleeping teenager woke up gasping for air, his eyes wide opened and tears wetting his mask. 

“I… I killed him… I…” Don whispered.

“Shhh, it’s ok. You just had a nightmare” Raph soothed his brother as he helped him to sit down.

“It was…” Don statement was interrupted by his own sobs. “I-it was an accident, I swear!”

“Accident? What are you talking about?” Raph asked. The latter couldn’t explain anything because of his sobbing fit.

“Aww, c’mon Donnie. Enough with the tears” Raph rubbed his brother’s shell comfortingly. He wished Leo was there; he was the expert on those situations. 

 _“How the hell Leo deals with this?”_ Raph thought as he continued comforting Don with no words or hugs, just his presence. After a few moments, Don’s sobs stopped a little altogether with his shivering hands and the sweating.

 “So… wanna tell me what’s bugging you?” Raph asked. Don shook his head negatively.

 “You know you can’t keep that shit inside forever”

 Don took a deep breath. “Something happened while I was looking for you”

 “Go on”

“Since your last call, I was very worried about you so I wasn’t paying attention to anything else… I was driving; the street was pretty dark…” Don felt tears threatening to come out again.

“C’mon Donnie, keep it together”

The memories from that night were still fresh on the genius’ mind; the face of the guy when he hit the truck, his blood on the pavement, the guy’s legs and arms hung at odd angles… Donatello wasn’t the kind of turtle that liked the idea of killing someone, no matter how bad he or she was; it was still a human being.

 “I didn’t see the guy running until… until I… ” 

 Raph nodded, understanding what his brother was talking about.

“The worst part is...that guy I killed, he was the one who almost killed _you_ and I don’t know why I’m making a big deal of it! I mean, I shouldn’t be feeling like this! He almost takes the only brother I have left away from me and… and he worked for that bastard that has Leo and Mikey captive. H-he deserved it, he had to pay, right? But then, why… why do I feel so bad?!” Don buried his head in his hands, letting the tears flow freely.

 The distraught teenager felt an arm pulling close to another being. Raph simply allowed his brother to rest his head on his shoulder while he held him in a one arm hug. Don was trembling terribly bad and the red-clad turtle knew it couldn’t be  helped; Don wasn’t suited for being a killer, not even an accidental killer and he knew this would haunt him for a while. Raph waited until Don had calmed down a little then tilted his face to meet his gaze.

 “Listen, it wasn’t your fault. And you’re right, he worked for the enemy… somehow, he got what he deserved”

  Don wasn’t completely convinced with his brother’s statement and more tears escaped from his dark brown eyes.

 “Donnie, you said yourself: it was an accident. He didn’t see it coming, happens all the time in the humans’ world, we watch it on the news… it’s kinda normal” Raph tried again but Don was still crying, not as bad as a few minutes ago though. 

  Raph sighed. “Man, I suck at this crap” 

  “It’s ok… thanks anyway. It was a nice try” Don said wiping his tears away.

“You doing ok now?”

Don shrugged. “I’ll try not to think of it; it’s not gonna be easy though” 

 “Not if I help you” 

 “After how I treated you, I don’t deserve any help” 

 “You sure are Leo’s brother” Raph snorted.

Don chuckled. “We all are” 

 “Yeh, but you and Leo have the same self blaming thingy. You gotta learn to chillax once in a while”

 “Chillax? Ok, you and Mikey have been hanging out way too much. You sound just like him” Raph laughed at the comment; Don just smiled sadly.

 “Raph, I’m sorry I… you know…”

 “Yelled at me, kicked me out, punched me in the face, and treated me like shit?” 

“Ok, that’s enough. I got the point already and I’m really sorry”

 "Don’t sweat it, bro” Raph punched Don playfully in the shoulder.

“I guess I was just… scared” Don hugged his arms around his knees.

 “That’s usually Mikey’s territory but… why you were scared?” Raph asked.

 “I thought I was gonna lose another brother and I just couldn’t bear it” Don confessed. Raph hugged his brother tightly, not caring about the pulsating pain on his side.

 “I’m still here Donnie; we’re gonna get our brothers back and we’ll make that motherfucker pay for what he did to all of us”

 “Very flowery speech, Raphael” Don giggled.

 “Oh shut up, genius” Raph noogied him.

 With their differences solved, both turtles packed their things and set off in order to find the last pieces they would need to reunite with his brothers. At least that’s what they thought.


	12. Chapter 12

Leo woke up with a terrible headache, each little muscle screaming in pain; at first he didn’t recognize where he was or what had happened exactly. The blue-clad turtle looked at his surroundings, he wasn’t in a dark cell anymore; this room was different. Sure, still dark but now he was lying on a soft bed with clean, white sheets. He also noticed the bandages around his middle plastron indicating he had been hurt, now the question was: how?

Oh yeah, now he remembered.

The arena, the battle against his baby brother… and speaking of that, where was he anyway? Was he hurt too? Was he alive? Leo was conscious that the fight had been brutal, it had been nothing compared to their normal sparring sessions back in the lair.

The blue-clad ninja tried to leave the bed but his body refused to move, even sitting up was a luxury. It took him a lot of willpower but after some failed attempts, Leo finally managed to sit up half straight; he winced at the pain on his stomach area but luckily, the bandages would not let him bleed. Leo’s eyes had grown accustomed to darkness by now so he started looking around trying to find his baby brother in the same room and hoping Mikey was in better conditions than himself. 

After a quick scanning, he finally spotted another bed and a familiar figure lying on it.

“Mikey?”  

He didn’t get an answer; his brother could be probably sleeping but he could be wrong too. His arms felt like jelly and soon gave up resisting Leo’s weight; the pain was killing him and yet there was no painkiller anywhere.

 _“I have to get up!”_ Leo thought as he tried to leave the bed once again.

 _"_ Leo?” Mikey’s voice came from the bed in the other corner of the room.

 “Mikey! You ok, bro?”

 “Yeh… Uhmmm… say, in a scale of 1 to 10… how much in pain are you?” Mikey asked.

 “Ten is the highest?” Leo asked back.

 “Uh huh”

 “One hundred and twenty eight” Leo answered with a sigh.

Mikey chuckled. “Wow, that’s _gotta_ hurt” 

 “You ok? Hang on; I’ll try to get up” 

“Uh, n-no… stay there Leo. I’ll…well, I uh…”  

“I need to see if you’re ok, Mikey” Leo replied, sitting up slowly.

 “Believe me, I’m fine. You need more rest than me”  

“Well, that’s kinda true… you sure beat me up, little bro” Leo smiled despite the pain. 

“I told you I could win by myself. After all, I’m the Battle Nexus Champion, remember?"

 “Yeah, sure” Leo rolled his eyes. If Raph was there, he sure would’ve pummeled Mikey for that comment “Well, at least let me hit the lights on; it’s way too dark here” 

 “No, no! I-It’s ok… I… you know I can’t sleep with the lights on!”

 “Mikey, why do I have the feeling you’re hiding something?” 

Even in the darkness of that room, Mikey could swear he had seen Leo’s “business” glare… and that made him really nervous. “That’s because you’re too paranoid, dude!” Mikey said trying to sound convincing but he knew he was done for. 

Minutes of silence passed till Mikey decided to talk again “Leo? Are you… up?”

 “Half way there” Leo said; he tried his best to stand up, ignoring the pain on his legs. 

The blue-clad ninja leaned against the cold wall as a way of supporting his weight while he tried to find a source of light. Mikey listened to every move his brother made with only one thought on his mind: _“No, no, no please… I don’t want him to see me this way… not yet!”_

Meanwhile, Leonardo kept searching blindly; any kind of light would be welcome in this moment… a flashlight, a small window… anything! But his legs were getting tired and his wound was also protesting. He was about to give up when his hand made connection with the so desired light-switch.

 “Finally!”

 “What?” 

 “I found a light switch. Light, sweet light… here I come”

 “Really? That’s… nice” Mikey said. _“Crap, I’m doomed”_

Leo hit the lights on and it was the last movement his body allowed him to do. His legs surrendered to tiredness making Leonardo fall to the ground. He cursed and held his wounded stomach.

 “LEO!” Mikey jumped off the bed, not caring about his own pain. Leo was lying on his side. “Bro, you ok? Hurt yourself?” 

“Kinda… I’m dizzy now” Leo said tiredly, he rubbed his eyes and kept them closed till he got used to the light once again.

 “C’mon, let’s get you back to bed” The youngest turtle managed to lift Leo from the floor and place him back to bed with slight difficulty. It was in that moment when Leo decided to open his eyes.

 "Mikey, your…”

 Mikey’s face went pale when he realized why Leo was looking at him with a shocked expression. “Don’t panic”  

Leo’s mouth hung open, the words refused to come out. Before his eyes, there was Mikey with the left side of his face half bandaged. “What… your face… your eye! How?!” His thoughts rushed a mile per hour. He had a hypothesis, which he hoped it was mistaken. “Mikye, tell me I didn’t…”

“Oh no! No, no, no! You didn’t do anything, Leo!” Mikey assured him in the most serious voice he could manage in that moment. Leo sighed in relief; at least it hadn’t been him… but then, who?

“Ok... ok.. so, what happened?” 

The youngest turtle lowered his head not wanting to meet Leo’s concerned gaze. The blue-clad ninja tilted his brother’s chin “Mikey, please… I need to know what happened”

Mikey wished Leo would have never said that. That was a memory he didn’t wanted to remember.

 

* * *

**_Three hours ago…_ **

****

"Alright… but make it quick" Mikey said after a long sigh. In less than a second, a strong hand was placing Mikey's hands behind his shell and the other one tugging Mikey's mask tilting his head backwards in a very painful way.

"Oh, it'll be quick" The man chuckled and pulled out a scalpel. "But it won't be painless”

Mikey gulped loudly after hearing those words and looking at the sadistic grin on his enemy’s face. The white suited man came closer to the orange-clad ninja holding the small blade on his hand and pointing it at Mikey’s left eye. The latter had finally realized how bad the situation he had gotten into was: the bastard was going to dig out his eye without even knocking him out. What would he give for a painkiller or a sedative… anything to help him resist the pain he would experiment in a few seconds! But this was how this maniac wanted to play. Besides, he had stabbed Leonardo, he deserved a punishment… Mikey just didn’t expect the punishment would be that hard.

 “Now, this shouldn’t hurt so much if you stay still”

“Wow, that’s very calming. Thanks a lot” Mikey replied trying to not sound frightened.

The man holding Mikey tightened his grip on the young turtle’s arm making him wince. “Shut up, freak!”

 “No, no… let him speak” The white suited man lowered the scalpel and knelt in front of Mikey. “You seem to be very confident, Michelangelo”

 “Is that a compliment or just sarcasm?” Mikey glared at his torturer.

The latter couldn’t repress a chuckle. “Such an amusing creature” He said as he got up. “Release him” 

 His henchman looked at him quizzically. “Sir?”

 The brown bearded man lit on a cigarette. “Did I stutter?”

 “N-no sir”

 “Then do as I say” The white suited man replied calmly. The bulky man let go of Mikey’s arm and mask. The young turtle stood up and walked towards his captor.

 “Uh uh! Not so fast” The white suited man ordered his henchman to handcuff Mikey; the latter did not put up resistance. “Now, you may follow me”

 The doors of the arena opened allowing the brown bearded man and the orange-clad turtle to pass to the next room. “Where are you taking me?” Mikey asked. 

“I assume you want to see how your brother is. Am I right, Michelangelo?” The man asked. Mikey nodded.

 “I thought so” The man smiled and kept walking with Mikey two steps behind him.

 Both man and turtle walked for a while through dark corridors till they reached the infirmary. Mikey was not allowed to get inside yet but he could see his brother through the glass window. Leo laid in the infirmary bed with several cuts on his body and a big wound in the stomach area. The sword wielder looked very pale, almost dead. 

 “Do not worry. He is just unconscious” 

“Why are you doing this?” Mikey said, his face still pressed on the glass and his eyes refusing to stop looking at his brother.

“Are you talking to me?” The man asked after blowing out some smoke.

“I don’t see any other maniac around here” Mikey said sarcastically. The white suited man chuckled darkly and motioned Mikey to follow him into another room.

 “Why are you torturing us? If you want to kill us, then do it!” Mikey continued.

The man continued laughing quietly; he pulled out a chair and invited Mikey to sit down. “To me this is merely a game. Where’s the fun on destroying my toys without playing with them first?”

 “You’re sick” Mikey hissed looking at him with disgust.

The brown bearded man helped the young turtle to sit down. “Sure I am, Michelangelo. Now tell me, why makes you want to give up your eye?”

 “My brother” Mikey said guiltily. Because that’s how he felt: guilty. It was his fault Leo had almost died by his own weapon, his closest possession and most importantly, by his brother’s hands.

 “I see” The white suited man blew out more smoke. “But I do not understand the point of being half blind for the rest of your life because of such pathetic excuse of warrior”

“Don’t say that! My brother is the best ninja alive!” Mikey replied angrily.

“Then why did he lose?” the man asked with a mocking voice.

 “Even the greatest ones have their bad days” 

 “Excuses, excuses~” 

Mikey glared at him. “Call it what you want. I know I’m right… and you’re sick”

 “Whatever you say, my pet; now it is time for you to “keep your word” and give me my payment” The man pulled discarded his cigarette and pulled out the scalpel.

 “...What’s your name?”

 The man froze at the question. He turned around to see Mikey who looked at him calmly. “What makes you think I will tell you that?”

 “Well, you know my name… and my brothers’ names too. I think we are in disadvantage because we don’t know who you are and that’s not fair… or honorable” 

The man sighed.  “Very well, I will let you know my name…” He said as he got closer to Mikey, scalpel on his hand. “… just so you know what to scream while I’m taking your precious eye”

The last thing Mikey remembered was the hysterical laugh of his captor and the piercing pain on his eyelid.

 


	13. Chapter 13

The story wouldn’t let him sleep and it would haunt him even more than Mikey himself, that was a fact. As he softly caressed Mikey’s temple while he watched him sleep, Leo’s mind made him repeat his brother’s horrible experience over and over again. He couldn’t believe Mikey had sacrificed his eye in order to save his life.

_“Sam_ _uel Flynn”_

Leonardo would curse and hate that name for the rest of his life and for what he had done to his baby brother. The blue clad ninja couldn’t bear the thought of his brother screaming in agonizing pain while his torturer plunged the scalpel further inside Mikey’s orbit, helpless, alone and scared. Leo felt nauseous and placed a hand on his mouth when something acid and warm started to make its way up his throat. Very stealthily, the sword wielder abandoned Mikey’s bed and moved to his own taking deep breaths as he tried to calm down and eventually, his nausea disappeared but he didn’t get rid of the guilt slowly consuming him from the inside.

It was his fault Mikey would be half blind forever.

Leo had hopes that Flynn had only slashed Mikey’s eye, that way Don could do something about it, maybe find a way to heal it but when he touched the bandaged side of Mikey’s face he didn’t felt the bulge that was supposed to be the eyeball… there was nothing but an empty socket.

“So, you _did_ survive”

The voice made Leo jump slightly in surprise. He hadn’t noticed the door opening until he saw Samuel standing there with his cane on one hand and a well known remote on the other.

* * *

 

“Fucking traffic, goddammit!” Raph cursed, honking frenetically at the minivan in front of the hauler.

“Relax, we don’t want unwanted attention, remember?” 

“Yeh, yeh I know. How are you doing with that tracker, anyway?”

Don showed him the device. “I already repaired most of it. We just need to find the last two pieces and we’re done” 

Raph nodded. “So... you think Leo and Mikey are still alive?” 

“Well, I like to be positive if that’s what you mean” Don said. “You know Leo is too stubborn to get himself killed so easily and Mikey is…”

"Too annoying to die?” 

“Not… exactly what I was thinking but yeah” Don grinned. Traffic was still being a pain in the ass; it seemed that it would take them a while to arrive to their last stop: Michigan.

“Say, all this time… and we don’t have a clue of who the hell is the dickhead behind all this shit” Raph pointed out.

“You know, you shouldn’t hang out with Casey too much” Don said while adjusting some details of the half repaired cell phone.

“Why is that?”

“Let’s say… your definition of _“a normal conversation”_ has too much cursing and not enough proper words”  

“Excuse me, oh good sir~ Next time I’ll make sure to bring my dictionary with me so I don’t offend your golden ear slits”

“Sarcastic much?”  

Raph grinned. "You mad?” 

“Quite” Don folded arms and looked away.

“You’re smiiiiling~” 

“Am not” Don retorted turning his head away from Raph’s eyesight as he tried to stay serious but failing miserably when a corner of his mouth started to curl into a smile.

Raph noticed this and teased Don again “Liar~” He said in a singsong voice.

“Focus on the road, will you?” Don gave him a mild glare when suddenly Raph started to poke the genius’ arm and head. “Oh, great! Now you’re gonna poke me? Wow! _So_ mature” 

“I’m bored! And we’re gonna be here for a while so…” Raph’s statement was interrupted when he noticed his genius brother had his attention in the small device on his hands with a sad smile on his face. “What?”

“You were right when you said this was Mikey’s cell phone. I didn’t notice the smiling faces he drew on the back of the phone before until now” Don said, his fingers slightly caressing the cell phone’s rough pattern “I miss him”

“...I know. I miss him too even if he’s a pain in the ass sometimes” 

Don smiled. “That’s what little brothers do” 

“You’re my little brother too and yet I don’t see you pulling pranks on me or Leo” Raph replied. 

“I guess Mikey’s definition of fun and _my_ definition of fun are totally different”

Raph snorted. “Yeah, machines and computers… _woohoo_ … that’s _so_ interesting” 

“Well, it’s better than movies with fake blood and not impressive special effects or fake, lame fights” Don retorted.

“How dare you to speak of wrestling like that!” Raph said pretending to be shocked and surprised.

“Pardon me, hurt your feelings?” Don laughed.

“Deeply” Raph laughed too.

“Seriously, and you call Mikey a drama queen?” 

“Hey, he ain’t the only one with hobbies to defend. Speaking of that… ever wondered what’s Leo’s hobby besides playing mother hen?”

“C'mon Raph, the guy's just a very worried brother. That’s all” 

“Look, I worry about my family too but Leo’s like… obsessed with protecting us! Hell, he would chain us or lock the door forever or something if he could do it”

Don shook his head. “Now you're just exaggerating”

“Maybe, maybe not but you understand my point, right?” 

“Honestly, I forgot what we were talking about” Don said grabbing his therm to drink coffee straight from it. As expected, it was cold and tasted horrible. 

“Leo’s hobby?” Raph repeated. 

"Yeah and it's practicing kanji; he also draws and he’s fairly good I gotta admit” Don commented. “You should see the picture he has in his room: the whole family together, our friends and everything! It’s like a photograph! Pretty realistic”  

“Wow… and why I didn’t know that?” 

“Leo always wanted to show you his artwork but… uh…  he told me you would probably laugh or mock him… or he could ask you in the wrong moment, mostly when you’re angry… and that’s almost all the time…”

“So he’s like… scared or something?”

Don shrugged.“Or maybe shy?” 

Raph let his head rest on the steering wheel. “I’m starting to think I live with strangers” 

“You just don’t know how to get involved properly without exploding” 

“Hey, I’ve been talking to you for a while and I haven’t exploded”  

Don nodded. “Touché” 

The cars were slowly starting to move and so did the turtles’ hauler. Don felt a little relieved and that talk with Raph had helped to keep him awake too… but of course, with some of his precious coffee’s help as well. It was strange, though, having a conversation with his hotheaded brother that didn’t actually included machines but actually casual things like their family and hobbies. Raph looked very intimidating all the time but now, he looked more like a brother than a brutal fighter.

Don rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know what? Maybe that’s what you need” 

“Huh?” Raph turned his attention to Don.

“A little time with each one of us, not in group… just you and one of us… like what we’re doing right now"

“You mean sitting in the car while expecting the other cars to get the hell out of our ways?”

“I meant talking, Raph. It doesn’t have to be so long, maybe a simple conversation and then if you don’t feel like continuing you can stop it”

Raph rolled eyes. “Thanks Doc, now I feel better”  

“And you could try to be a little less sarcastic”

“Sarcastic, my ass. I ain't sarcastic!” 

“Ok, ok!  _Chillax_ ” Don said in a very Mikey-way. Raph couldn’t help but laugh.

* * *

 

Flynn smiled smugly at Leonardo who stood up as fast as a lightning after he had made his entrance. “I see Michelangelo was right after all, you can survive everything… even death itself”

“You bastard…” Leo’s hands turned into fists; he was ready to rip Flynn’s limbs one by one for what he had done but the latter pointed the remote at Mikey’s sleeping form.

“Nuh uh uh~” Samuel grinned when he saw Leo backing up slowly. “Did you really think I was going to come here unprepared?”

“Why did you mutilate my brother; why didn’t you hurt me instead?!”

Flynn chuckled. “Calm down, my pet” 

“Stop calling me that!” Leo yelled.

Samuel pressed the remote’s button making the blue-clad turtle wince in pain as he crumbled to ground thanks to the shock waves coming from his collar. “What if I don’t?” 

Leo was lucky Samuel had chosen the lowest level this time; his neck’s skin was irritated enough to receive more damage but that didn’t mean it hurt less. Once Flynn was satisfied enough, he stopped the torture and walked towards Mikey’s bed.

“You should be grateful I didn’t leave him blind; the treatment we gave you to heal your wounds was more expensive than just one eye” Samuel said calmly as he stepped closer to the sleeping turtle’s bed. “Besides, little Michelangelo offered it to me… I didn’t just take it away” 

Samuel’s hand lowered to rub Mikey’s head but another hand stopped him. He lifted his head just to meet Leo’s angry eyes.

“You threatened him using my survival as an excuse! How low… but that’s expected coming from a scoundrel like you” Leo hissed.

“Keep flattering, Leonardo. Your pretty compliments are not going to free you nor give Michelangelo his eye back, are they?” Leo’s glare slowly disappeared as he released Samuel from his grip. The latter smiled in triumph.

“Why did you come here?” Leo asked.

“To give you this” Flynn tossed him a very familiar artifact “Congratulations”

 Leo stared at the shell cell in disbelief; finally a way of contacting his family, his brothers…

“My sources informed me your brothers are a few hours away from here where the last two pieces of your cell phones remain. They are quite intelligent” Samuel informed. “Makes me regret not taking them instead of you two; you are becoming pretty boring” He chuckled.

“I swear if you dare to hurt Raph and Don…” Leo threatened.

“Easy, easy… I never said that; even I know when to stop playing, dear pet” Samuel raised his hands defensively. “Anyway, I have a new acquisition: a beautiful Black Mamba waiting to be dissected and since I ran out of anesthesia, I have to find a way to _tranquilize_ it” He said checking his pocket watch “And I’m getting late, so I better leave”

To Leo, it was unbelievable how this monster could talk about those things so easily. That snake, although its reputation as the most poisonous; was a living being, an innocent animal… and so were the other animals and creatures Samuel had tortured before. Flynn was truly a disgusting being with no respect for life… he would have his punishment; Leo knew that.

“Oh, almost forgot… you can call one of your brothers but your cell phone has 10 minutes only. I suggest you to use them wisely… and my men will come for you and your brother in a few hours” Samuel said as he walked away.

“What are you going to do now?” Leo asked, feeling a twinge of fear inside him.

Samuel smirked. “You will see” 

The door behind the white suited man closed leaving Leonardo alone with his thoughts once again.


	14. Chapter 14

“Well, time for me to go” Raph grabbed his keys and his tracker and headed for the hauler’s exit before Don stopped him.

“Do you have everything?” 

“Yeah”

“Tracker?”

“Here”

“Shell cell?”

Raph sighed.“Yeah” 

“Your wound ok? Does it hurt?”

“Yes, and YES to the next ten things you’re going to ask me! May I leave now?” 

Don stepped aside from the exit. “Ok, ok. Be careful”

“Yes, _mom~_ ” 

“Hey wasn’t that Leo’s role?” Don chuckled.

“Since he ain’t here, you’re taking it”

Don rolled eyes. “Wow, lucky me” Both turtles waved their ‘good byes’ before going into separate ways once again. Don hadn’t even arrived to the driver’s seat when his cell phone rang. “What, forgot something?”

_“Donnie?”_

That voice Don hadn’t heard in three months wiped away the smile from the genius turtle’s face

_"_ _Don, are you there?”_

Donatello didn’t believe his ears but he had to admit he recognized that voice from miles away. It was his missing brother’s voice. Gingerly and with a shaky voice, Don answered back. “Y-yes?”

_“Don, it’s me…_ _Leo_ _. I don’t have much time, this phone has only 10 minutes and I know this is a little sudden but you have to listen to me carefully”_

 “Ok...?” 

_“I need you to track this call; it’ll guide you to where we are”_

Don’s eyes couldn’t have gotten bigger; both his brothers were alive? “You mean… Mikey’s ok too?”

_"Yes, yes but we’ll talk later”_

“Wait! So who _is_ the one behind all this? I have to know!” 

_"Samuel Flynn”_ The call ended as abruptly as it had started but one thing was for sure: Don’s brothers were alive.

“They’re alive” He said to himself. He hadn’t fully snapped out of his catatonia but somehow he dialed his red-clad brother’s number “Raph?”

_"Sup”_

 “Leo called me” 

_“... what?”_

“Leo called me… he’s alive!” 

_"You’re not… kidding, right?”_

“Of course not! Leo’s alive!” 

_"What about Mikey? Did you talk to him too?”_

“No but Leo mentioned him… somehow… and he also said his cell phone only had 10 minutes so we didn’t talk much… and I was kind of in shock” Don started to giggle in a way Raph recognized perfectly: his purple-clad brother was nervous _and_ in the verge of tears. 

_“Want me to go there?”_

 “I… well… uhmm… don’t know, I mean…” Don’s babbling confirmed Raph’s hypothesis.

_"You sound as nervous as hell”_

 “I-I guess” 

_"I’m going back, Don. You just wait for me and try to calm down”_

Raph hung up and rode back to where he knew Don had parked the hauler. His heartbeats were fast and he couldn’t stop smiling. Finally after three months of searching, they would meet with their brothers and get them back home. On the other hand, Don was still having some difficulties on getting his brain to work properly; that call had really affected him.

“They’re alive… they’re alive!” Don repeated over and over again. He was sweating cold, his hands trembled and his eyes stung because of the tears of joy.

“Ok, Donatello… calm down, calm down” The genius turtle took a deep breath and fought the tears trying to spill out from his eyes. Deciding he needed more time, he took three more deep breaths. Once he had calmed down, he grabbed his laptop and began his research.

* * *

Michelangelo stirred on his bed and opened his eyes… or at least he tried; the bandage on the left side of his face reminded him he only had one eye now; he would have to get used to this with some time. The room was dark once again; probably Leo had turned out the lights so he could sleep peacefully. His body didn’t hurt so much now and his arms seemed to have recuperated their strength as he used them to help him sit down in the mattress. The orange-clad ninja searched for his older brother across the room and it didn’t take him much time to find him also awake and in sitting in the edge of his bed.

“Leo?” 

Mikey’s voice snapped Leo out of his thoughts “Hi buddy. Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah… m’still sore, though” Mikey said lazily.

“Understandable” Leo gave him a curt nod. Mikey leaned in the wall but accidentally into the bandaged side of his face which made him hiss at the pain. “Are you alright? Still hurts?”

Mikey shrugged. “Kinda. Not so bad than a few hours ago but yeah”

Leo smiled sadly and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. “I didn’t have to chance to say thanks” 

“Don’t sweat it bro. You would’ve done the same” Mikey chuckled. His eye focused on the small device in Leo’s hand. "Hey, isn’t that your shell cell? Can you call Raphie and Donnie?”

“I already called Don but we didn’t talk so much” 

Mikey’s smiled dropped. “Why?”

“This cell phone doesn’t have enough minutes. We can’t use it all the time” 

“Do you think they’re on their way?”

Leo sighed. “Flynn told me they’re almost here”

"For real?" 

“Absolutely” Leo chuckled before pulling Mikey into a one arm hug “We’re getting out tonight, little bro”

* * *

“Hey genius, couldn’t pick a better time to check your mail?” 

“I’m doing research; Leo said something about… uh… Samuel Flynn. He’s the one who kidnapped them. By the way, turn left"

“Left?” Raph asked a little confused.

“I’m tracking the call. Turn left then right and then left again”

Raph followed Don’s instructions silently while the latter practically ‘attacked’ the keyboard with his amazingly fast typing skills. After several minutes and websites later, Don finally found something.

“Check this out: Dr. Samuel Flynn used to be a prestigious zoologist. It seemed that he was intrigued on how animals reacted to pain or fear or if they even could feel emotions like humans do and used his fortune in order to investigate this further but it was reveal his methods were brutal and Flynn was imprisoned for 35 years but was  _released_  after 15 and half years for  _good behavior and after receiving intense physiological therapy”_

Raph snorted. “Looks like it didn’t work after all” 

"Police has no recent information about Flynn. Apparently he’s been playing the nice guy role so the government won’t take him away and his money again” Don continued. 

Raph’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Nice guy or not, he’s dead meat once we find him” 

Unknown to the red and the purple-clad ninjas, someone had noticed their arrival. "It is time. Bring them to me”

* * *

“Leo, I just want you to know I did what I did because I wanted to. Nobody forced me”

Mikey’s voice was solemn; totally different from the usual high pitched or excitedly one he used when the talked. His facial expression matched with the serious voice which surprised Leonardo. However, it was Mikey’s statement what surprised him the most.

“What are you talking about?”

“I heard you and Flynn talking” Mikey explained himself.

“No, I mean what are you talking about by saying he didn’t force you when he did!”

“Leo…”

“Mikey, if it wasn’t for this wound you would have never had to give up your eye. Flynn could have left me there and die but he knew you wouldn’t let that happen!” 

“Do you think I don’t know that!” Mikey raised his voice but not to the point of a yell. “I was scared… you were losing so much blood… I couldn’t let you die, Leo! I didn’t want to be alone”

Leo’s mouth has slightly opened, ready to make another reply but shut close when the orange-clad turtle hugged his arms around his legs resting his forehead on his knees. “Maybe this will sound mushy… but I did it out of love…” Mikey’s muffled voice could be heard. Leo sat closer to his brother so he could listen to him better.

“Just like when you do things for us” He continued. “No matter how tired you are, you’re always there when Don needs you even if you don’t understand half of what he’s saying”

Leo chuckled; Donnie… his crazy little genius. It was always a wonder listening to him talk about his inventions. 

“No matter how angry is Raph at you, no matter how bad you two have argued…” Mikey continued “…you still wait for him when he goes out late at night or you go out and bring him back home. You still care for him and love him”

Leo nodded; he and Raph clashed a lot and their differences where uncountable but they both knew they had each other to lean on.

“And no matter how clumsy and distracted I can be sometimes…” Mikey lifted his face to meet Leo who had raised a brow at his statement.

“Most of the time…?” Leo’s expression didn’t change at all.

“Ok, ok… the _whole_ time!” Mikey rolled eyes and Leo laughed quietly.

“Anyway… no matter how many times I mess up, you’re always there to tell me to never give up. You never give up on me and when I’m down you manage to make me smile again” 

“It’s the least I can do, little bro. You are always the one cheering us up” Leo noogied him slightly.

“Heh… well, my point is… maybe I lost my eye but you know what? I will never regret what I did. Besides, I had to repay you for the times you helped me survive in this hell”

Leo smiled big brotherly at Mikey and pulled him close. “Don’t say that. Like you said… it was all out of love”

“I know, big brother” Mikey sighed content as he snuggled closer to his big brother.

* * *

 

Raphael and Donatello stood outside the hauler and looked in slight fear at the pretty intimidating gray building that would beat with the ones in the horror movies they watched… well, the ones _Mikey_ made them watch to pester them with his nightmares later and during the rest of the week and sometimes month.

“Looks… quite cozy...” 

Don gave him a _‘Seriously?’_ look which Raph answered with a shrug. The sound of footsteps alarmed them; both turtles jumped behind some bushes and stayed there in silence. A not-so-tolerable smell made Don gag but followed his nose out of curiosity. Raph followed his brother pretty close with a hand covering his nostrils as the smell intensified with every step they took.

“Raph, look!” Don pointed at the several piles of rotten flesh and bones of animals. Some of them appeared to be recently dead while the others were already decaying. “That’s just horrible” He said in disgust. They noticed two men throwing more bodies in the already big columns of animal corpses; most of them were dogs, cats, two pitons, three falcons and some pigs. 

“Ok I had a bad feeling about this guy but… this is just sick!”

A low growl sound made Raph turn his face around and freeze. “Uhmm, Donnie?”

“I-I don’t… I can’t believe this maniac!”

“Donnie!”

“I don’t want to imagine what…”

“For fuck's sake, Donatello!”

“What!”

“Tell me you know how to deal with angry dogs” Raph asked pointing at the five angry pit bulls behind them, growling and showing their sharp teeth. Don started to stand up very slowly and so did Raph; the dogs followed every single move with their eyes and growled louder.

“Uh… m-may I remind you I’m not a dog turtle?” Don replied.

Raph shook his head. “Neither am I!" The dogs started to walk towards them, teeth bared and thick saliva coming from the corner of their mouths. 

“Any ideas, genius?”

"Just one… run!”

* * *

The doors of the room opened and the lights turned on taking Leo and Mikey by surprise. “Wakey, wakey sleepyheads~” Flynn greeted. “Hello Michelangelo, sleep well?”

Mikey gave him a dirty look. “Hardly” 

“That’s too bad. Anyway, I had planned to have some warm tea and brownies and I could use some company” Flynn leaned on his cane while smiling innocently.

“You have your henchmen for that, _Flynn_ ”

Flynn chuckled. “I’d rather ask you two to join me than them. I’m afraid their lack of manners is… not tolerable” 

“We’re staying here but thanks for the offer” Leo said.

“You did not quite understand, did you Leonardo? I was not asking you if you wanted to come” With a snap of his fingers, Samuel called two of his henchmen and motioned them to get the turtles out. “Be careful with them, boys. They are my guests” Samuel said, the smile still plastered on his face. Another guy came to him and whispered something into Flynn’s ear.

“Leonardo, Michelangelo… my men will escort you to the garden; I will join you in a few minutes” Flynn said before leaving Leo and Mikey with their _‘escorts’._

 


	15. Chapter 15

“Explain me again what made you think running away from _MOTHERFUCKING PIT BULLS_  was a good idea!”  

“Shut up and keep running!” 

Don’s legs were getting tired after all the running and jumping while trying to lure the furious canines chasing them; the pit bulls didn’t seem to give up which was making Raphael really mad. He _did not_ run away, _never_! Especially from dogs. Don managed to make four of five pit bulls get lost but there was one that still chased them and now was after the red-clad ninja.

Raph stopped on his tracks. “That’s it!” 

The dog jumped showing the sharp teeth. “That’s right… come to Raph”  He muttered.  In one swift move, Raph took Don’s bo staff from his back and hit the dog hard in the belly making the dog whimper and fall to ground. 

The dog’s whimper was heard for the other canines and found Raph and Don who had their weapons ready. Just when the dogs were about to attack them, their ears perked up and ran away from the turtles in order to meet the one who had called them.

“Welcome, Raphael and Donatello. I was waiting for you” From the shadows, a white suited man appeared with a stupid grin and a cigarette on his mouth.

“You have 3 seconds to give us back our brothers before I make you choke on your blood” Raph pulled out his sais but jumped back when a brown & tan pit bull barked at him loudly and threateningly.

“Easy there, Brownie” Samuel petted the dog “Excuse me; she reacts a little harshly when it comes to meet new people”

A chocolate & white pit bull growled at Raphael and showed him his teeth. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was a dog, anyone could compare this one with a hungry and angry wolf. “That tough guy over there is Necrium” Flynn said “I think he would be a perfect dog for you Raphael, you two have so much in common”

“Listen, you _son of a_ …” Raph hissed. Two more dogs, cream with white barked at Don’s direction.

“Maze and Grim seem to like you, Donatello” Samuel chuckled. Don hid slightly behind Raph’s shell. The dog Raph had hit, whimpered calling Flynn’s attention. “Aww my dear Victoria. Did Raphael hit you? Poor little baby” Samuel petted the black pit bull carefully “I can not believe you dared to hurt my Victoria; she’s my favorite!”

“I’m surprised a monster like you shows care towards those dogs after what we’ve read and seen you do with animals” Don said bitterly.

“Hell, you even named those dogs! And why’s that? Treating them good so you can butcher them later?!”

“Oh Raphael… did you know every name has a meaning and purpose in life?” Samuel said calmly.

“Enough with the riddles and tell us where are our brothers!” Don demanded, now feeling beyond frustrated. 

“Funny, I thought you were the patient one, Donatello. But since you asked so nicely, you'll meet them very soon. Follow me” Samuel turned around and walked towards an iron door being followed by his pit bulls and both turtles.

“Why don’t we just kill him already?!” Raph hissed.

Don glared at him. “Do you want to fight five angry pit bulls?” 

“We’ve faced tons of bastards before and now you pussy out because of those fucking dogs?” 

“And here we are!" Flynn announced. "Your brothers are in this room but before you get in… did you collect all the pieces?”

Don showed Samuel the shell cell completely repaired.

“May I?” Samuel held his hand towards Don and Raph wished he could cut it off till he passed out from blood lost; he wanted to hurt Flynn so badly but this wasn’t the time. Not when he would finally see his brothers again. The genius turtle gave Flynn the device and stepped back, his eyes never leaving the dogs just in case.

“Well, my time here is over. See you boys” Samuel bowed his head and walked away with the pit bulls. Raph was about to follow him when an olive hand stopped him.

“Raph, no”  

Said turtle growled and tucked his weapons back in his belt. “I can’t believe we let him go” 

“We’re going to get with our brothers back and that’s all I care for now” Don said and opened the door; darkness surrounded them as they walked in. The door slammed close behind both turtles and the lights turned on.

“What the fuck!”

* * *

“This is the most boring tea party I’ve ever been to” Mikey whined. "Where the shell is that guy?”

“Mikey, you’ve never been into one and for the last time… _Alice in Wonderland_ doesn’t count”

“Still, you get the point when I say it’s boring"

The door opened swiftly. “Sorry for the delay, boys” Flynn got rid of his cigarette and made his dogs rest in the cushions placed in the corner of the room. 

“Nice doggies...” 

“I’m surprised they’re still alive” Leo muttered. 

“Sarcastic much, Leonardo?” Flynn chuckled while Leo gave him an angry glare. Flynn called his assistants who placed the items for the tea party in a small table covered with a soft linen tablecloth. 

“Try these ones, they are irresistible” Samuel smiled while taking a brownie and eating it with delight. Mikey was about to join Flynn but Leo stopped him.

“Come on, gentlemen. There is nothing to be afraid of; if I had poisoned them I wouldn’t be eating them myself” Flynn chuckled, taking another brownie. Leo didn’t notice his brother was already eating until it was too late to stop him; Mikey had already ate most of them.

"I agree with the crazy dude; these ones are delicious!” Mikey said happily stuffing his mouth with more brownies. Leo just shook his head negatively.

“You are not eating, Leonardo. Why is that?” 

“I’m not a fan of sweets”

“You should eat some, boy. Maybe that could sweeten you a little bit” Samuel chuckled.

Leo gave him a mild glare. “If we are your guests, then why do we still have these collars?”

“My bro's right, dude! It’s not polite~” 

“Where are my manners?” Samuel pulled out a different remote and released the turtles once and for all. Their necks had red marks and looked very irritated now but they would heal. “And I also believe these are yours” He pressed another button and the ninja’s weapons appeared in front of them. 

“You’re not making us fight again”  

“But of course not! I was thinking you would like to take your weapons with you once you are released or else your brothers would be very mad” Samuel explained.

“Are they here already? Where are they? I wanna see them!” Mikey said excitedly.

“Oh my… now I understand why you do not like sweets; had I known Michelangelo would get hyperactive, I wouldn’t have let him eat them” Flynn laughed enthusiastically while leaving his chair and disappearing in the room behind him.

While Leo and Mikey grabbed their weapons and secured them on their sheaths and belt respectively, Flynn came back with a tray which contained a tea pot and three cups. “Perhaps some tea will help you calm down” Flynn was about to give Mikey the cup when Leo interfered.

“He doesn’t like tea” 

Samuel smiled at him. “It's imported~” 

“Oh yeah? Where is it from?” 

“The other side of the world, as far as I know; I really don’t like to investigate where the tea comes from as long as it tastes good”

“He is _not_ drinking that!”

“I think I’ll have water instead” Mikey suggested. Flynn nodded and pointed at the room behind him. Leo stood up and grabbed Mikey’s hand pulling him up as well. 

“Dude, don’t go all paranoid on him” Mikey said as he freed himself from the grip “Sure he’s nuts but I don’t wanna make him mad or else he could hurt Don and Raph”

Leo sighed. “Mikey, no offense but sometimes you’re too naïve for your own good”

“I’m not naïve! And I’m definitely not defending that maniac if that’s what you think” Mikey argued.

“Just because he’s letting us go doesn’t mean we have to lower the guard. May I remind you that bastard left you half blind?”

“Leo, look… we can get this guy later, ok? Once we’re back with Raphie and Donnie but please, don’t make a scene… not now” Mikey’s request sounded more like a plea… one that Leo couldn’t ignore so easily.

Back in the main room, Flynn poured the steaming tea in a porcelain cup and handed it to Leo who took it hesitantly. Samuel started drinking enjoying the flavor and eyed quizzically at the sword wielder. “Something wrong with your tea?”

Leo shook his head negatively but he didn’t drink the liquid.

"Your brothers are here and waiting for you” Flynn handed Mikey the cell phone Donatello had repaired just some minutes ago. “And I can assure you they are unharmed”

“So… means we’re free now?” Mikey asked hopefully.

“Correct and believe it or not I’m already missing you both… though I have a little souvenir”

Mikey gasped when Samuel pulled out a jar with his eye inside, floating in a green liquid. The young turtle looked away and started to breathe faster almost hyperventilating; the memories of that day still fresh on his mind. “Isn’t it sweet? The reminder of your noble sacrifice” Samuel chuckled and turned his attention to the older turtle “I wonder if Leonardo will ever repay the favor”

Leo narrowed his eyes, his grip on the cup tightening. If it wasn’t for his brother’s pleas, he would have destroyed Flynn in that moment.

“Would you, Leonardo? Would you repay the favor? Even if it costs you your life?” Flynn continued.

“Yes, I would” Leo affirmed.

Flynn smiled evilly. “Shall we drink our tea then?”

Both turtle and man emptied their cups in a matter of seconds. Leo didn’t feel anything weird while drinking the brown liquid; it felt just like a normal tea. Perhaps Mikey was right; he was being a little paranoid. The white female pit bull woke up and yawned loudly; she walked across the room nuzzling Mikey’s leg, the latter couldn’t resist and petted her… it was almost like petting his cat. The dog kept walking and sniffed the bush in the corner of the room.

“Nuh-huh Victoria~ You can not eat that” Flynn pulled her collar making her abandon that place.

“It is amazing how this innocent flower can be so poisonous” Flynn commented “…all parts of that plant could kill someone if its chewed fresh, dried or boiled. Mother Nature never stops astounding me” 

“What’s its name?” Mikey asked in curiosity.

“Nerium oleander” Flynn said carelessly and grabbed the tea pot. “Oh my… I thought I had more tea. Those incompetents!” He sighed “Anyway… do you wish the last cup Leonardo? Last cups are always very special”

Leo grabbed it and drank it. Flynn opened the door and motioned Mikey and Leo to go that way.

“You may both go with your brothers now and Leonardo… remember, you have a debt to pay~”

“Don’t even think this is over, _Samuel Flynn_ ” Mikey hissed as he walked pass the door, Leo following him closer.

The door closed blocking the devilish stare and smirk Flynn gave to both turtles. “I couldn’t agree more Michelangelo. This is not over”

* * *

Both Don and Raph had been tricked by Flynn and now were trapped in a white room; they had been walking trying to find an exit but the genius turtle concluded they were in a maze.

“ _Fuck!_ I knew we should’ve killed him when we had the chance!” Raph punched the white concrete wall.

“Calm down, Raph!” Don glared at him.

“How the _fuck_ you want me to _calm down_ on a moment like this!”

“We have our cell phones! We can call Leo or Mikey if that guy gave him the shell cell already. Now, try calling Mikey”

Raph sighed in exasperation and dialed Mikey’s number. Meanwhile on the other side of the room, Leo and Mikey found themselves in the same predicament: walking around with no sign of exits.

Mikey groaned. "Now this is just priceless!”

“Told you he was hiding something” 

“I know, I know. You don’t have to go all smug on me, ok?” Mikey rolled eyes. Leo was about to make a retort but the sound of a shell cell ringing interrupted him.

“Wow, this thing still works!” Mikey exclaimed and answered.  _"Yo Mikey, you there?”_ Raph’s voice came from the device.

“Raphie! Man, am I glad to hear your voice again!”  

_Same here, kiddo. You ok? Leo there with ya?”_

“Yeah, he’s here. Kinda figuring out where are we. Where exactly are you?”

_"Don says this is a maze. You and Leo stay there ok? We’re gonna try to find you”_

“Sure, I’m not in the mood for moving anyway. I shouldn’t have took that last brownie”

 _“Brownie?” The fuck are you talking about?_  

“Mikey…” Leo shook his brother’s shoulder making him turn his attention to the hissing sound behind them.

“Shit…!”

_“What? What’s wrong?”_

“I don’t think we can stay here, Raphie-boy”

_“Why not?”_

“Mikey! Behind you!”

* * *

 

Leo’s voice was the last thing Raph heard before the line went dead.  “Mikey? Mikey! Leo! …Fuck! Fucking motherfucker phone!"

“What happened?” Don asked.

“They’re getting attacked. Sounded like…” A hissing sound came from behind the red-clad ninja. “Aw shit, it was exactly like that! Nice one, Don!”

“What! ! I didn’t do anything”

The hissing sound got louder and louder; in a matter of seconds, Raph and Don were totally surrounded by snakes but they knew they weren’t the only ones. On the other side of the maze Leo and Mikey were in the same predicament while in a dark room, Flynn observed everything with a smile on his face.

“Let the  _real_ fun begin”

 


	16. Chapter 16

Cobras surrounded both Raph and Don blocking the way to the next room and they were aware Leo and Mikey were having the same problem on the other side of the maze. There was no way they could escape without getting bitten by the deadly reptiles. The snakes hissed loudly as they moved towards both turtles, showing their fangs and trying to bite Raph’s foot but he was way faster and dodged the attacks. Don, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky and stepped on the snake’s tail that was behind him.

“Ow!”

“Don!” Raph ran towards his brother and decapitated the cobra.

“I think that one wasn't poisonus” Don said after checking out his wound.

“But it bit you!”

“Yes but look” Don showed Raph the small wound. “No fangs means no poison”

 _“If I were you, I’d pay attention. Royalty can be dangerous as you may know, Donatello. You sure must have read enough to agree with me”_ Flynn’s voice came from a speaker.

“Hey Don, what does that mean?” Raph asked.

The genius turtle was really clueless; this wasn’t exactly the best time for riddles but leave it to Flynn to make this a very lame but still deadly ‘Saw’ kind of game. Raphael, in the meantime, kept his eyes on his feet checking for incoming attacks and threatening the snakes with his sai.

“C’mon Don, what's that shit he was talking about?!"

“I don’t know!” Don said feeling helpless and stressed. The cobras aimed for Don’s and Raph’s legs and feet but little they could do to stay away from them. All the reptiles were furious and their hissing sound was unbearable and extremely annoying.

“Shit! That lil fucker bit me!” Raph cursed, looking at his leg and noticing the blood slowly pouring from the bite marks. Don hit the snake with his staff sending it to the other side of the room.

“No pressure, Don, but you gotta think of a way of getting us out of here. Next bite could be from the real one” Raph said in the calmest voice he could manage.

While Raph fought the cobras, Don looked at his surroundings analyzing the situation and trying to focus on the riddle. He didn’t know much about cobras but the fact that they were the deadliest largest snake of their kind was present on his mind. He looked at the hood, the eyes, the fangs when they opened their mouths but the ones that had attacked them were fangless; in fact, he could’ve sworn they were all fangless except for the one Flynn called ‘the real one’. The cobras moved so fast it was really hard to say which one did have fangs; if he didn’t hurry, one of them could die poisoned or maybe both of them and his brothers too.

So much pressure, not enough clues… Don’s head felt like it was about to explode. That horrible smell of blood filling the room making him nauseous.

“Royalty… royalty… they’re cobras for shell sake! It doesn’t make sense!” Don said out loud. And then it hit him. “Raph, I think I have the answer to Flynn’s riddle!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Leo and Mikey tried their best to not be attacked by the angry cobras at the same time they figured out a way of escaping without being bitten or even confronting them. 

“I don’t remember this part of our training” Mikey commented trying to sound cheery even when deep inside he was terribly scared. 

_“If I were you, I’d pay attention. Royalty can be dangerous as you may know, Donatello. You sure must have read enough to agree with me”_

“Flynn! You bastard! What’s the meaning of this?! Where are my brothers?!” Leo slammed his fist to the wall.  A few snakes retreated but their hissing intensified.

“Ow! One of them bit my foot!” Mikey cried. 

“You ok? Feeling cold or something?” Leo asked highly concerned. 

“I’m ok… I guess… they’re supposed to leave fang marks right?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Well, that one didn’t” Mikey said showing Leo the bite. 

“You stay there and don’t move; I’ll take care of them” Leo said pulling out his swords and aiming at the cobras’ necks. 

“Can’t we just dodge them and escape?” Mikey suggested. 

He didn’t like the idea of killing those animals. They weren’t like Flynn, those snakes were still innocent. It wasn’t their fault Flynn forced them to use their defensive instincts to attack them. As if reading his brother’s mind, Leo placed one sword back on its sheath and looked for an exit without harming the snakes but when he tried to move one of them launched an attack at his toe; Leo’s ninja reflexes helped him to slice the cobra’s head off before it could bit him. 

“They won’t let us” Leo said, apologetically looking at Mikey.  The latter nodded and Leo continued slicing the cobras’ necks. The blue-clad ninja had two cobras just where he wanted them and aimed at them.

“Leo, look out!” Or so he thought. He blinked and saw nothing where he had cornered those snakes; there was just an empty wall in front of him. Mikey twirled his nunchacks and hit the cobra behind Leo knocking it down. The latter stumbled and rested his weight on the wall while panting and rubbing his eyes insistently. 

“You ok, bro?” 

“Yeah… just… dizzy” Leo panted. Mikey’s cell phone rang and he picked it immediately. 

“Hello?”

_“Mikey, it’s Don”_

“Not the best time for a call, dude” Mikey chuckled nervously “Make it quick” 

_“Are you being chased by cobras too?”_ Don asked. 

“Oh no, we’re getting our butts kicked by a bunch of bunnies~ OF COURSE WE’RE BEING CHASED BY COBRAS!” 

_“Calm down and…”_

“THEY’RE ALL DEADLY COBRAS! WE’RE GONNA DIE HERE!”

“Give me that!” Leo snatched the phone from Mikey’s hand. "Hello Don?"

_“Leo, did you hear a message from Flynn?”_  

“Yeah, that was a very stupid riddle. We have no idea which one is the poisonous one but we’ve been already bitten and I don’t want the next one to be our last one” 

_“Only the king cobra is the one you have to get rid of”_   

Leo frowned. “What do you mean?” 

_“Royalty can be dangerous is Flynn’s way of saying: King Cobras are poisonous”_ Don explained. 

“So they’re not all king cobras? Just one?” Leo asked now understanding the situation. 

_“The one with beady, dark eyes and a bright yellow mark in the tail is the real king cobra. The other ones are not a threat”_

“Thanks Donnie” Leo hung up.  “Mikey, we have to find the one with the bright yellow mark in the tail”

“B-but what if the real one bites me?”

“Focus on the description I gave you” Leo said while slicing another cobra's head. “You trust Donnie, right?” 

“I trust you all… but…” Mikey replied. 

“Then trust me on this. Find the one with the bright yellow mark in the tail. It doesn’t matter if the others bite you, they won’t kill you” Leo said while handing Mikey one of his swords. 

“Do I have to…” Mikey looked at him and the sword hesitantly. 

“Listen, I don’t want to kill them either but it’s the only choice we have” 

Mikey sighed heavily and grabbed the sword. This had to be done or else they would die and never see their brothers again. He would never forgive himself for this but it was them or the snakes. 

* * *

 

Hundreds of cobras’ heads and bodies lied in the cold ground leaving pools of blood underneath Raph and Don’s feet; they had been pretty lucky on finding the real king cobra on the third try and getting away from that place with a few bites from the fangless snakes instead. As they walked away from that room, the smell of blood became less perceptible but some of it was still impregnated in both turtles’ skins. 

“That will give me nightmares” Raph said, rubbing his arm in an attempt to clean the grime from it. 

“You bet. How many bites?” Don asked. 

“Uh… six on my left foot… three on the back of my right leg… five on my right foot. That makes… fourteen. You?” 

“Hah! I win, only ten. You owe me 20 bucks” 

“What! I don’t get it; I had the blades and I got more bites that you? Ain’t fair, man!” 

“Aww, someone's a sore loser~” Don teased. 

“Shut up, Don. I can go back for those cobras’ heads and make you choke with them” Raph threatened. 

“Wow… didn’t know that psycho side of yours” 

“Didn’t know you were king of sarcasm” Raph replied. “Do you think Leo and Mikey made it out alive?” 

“Well, Leo has his swords and a high possibility of a faster decapitation due to the length of his blades and…”

“Don, just answer YES or NO! Leave the genius talking for someone that can actually understand you or has more patience than me” 

“The answer is quite obvious, Raph. I’m sure they’re both fine” Don rolled his eyes. “Though Mikey’s not gonna let you and Leo sleep for a few nights” 

“You had to say it, don’t you?” 

“C’mon, you know Mikey always comes to you guys”

Raph sighed. “Tue. Damn, I hate this fucking maze! Do you think we’ll get out of here this year?” 

"Don't be a baby"

“But I'm bored and hungry!” Raph protested in a very Mikey-way. 

“Once we get home you'll have all the... Brownie…?” 

“Fuck yeah, I’ll take that. Don't even like sweets but-” 

“-No! I mean Brownie, Flynn’s dog!” Don pointed at the female dog lying on her side in the next room. 

Raph walked towards it with his sais ready for anything but froze at the picture that welcomed him. He walked back on his steps. "Don, you better not see this” 

“Why?” Don asked in curiosity and moved forward but Raph grabbed his arm and obligated the genius to follow him away from that room. 

“Trust me, you don’t want to” Raph looked at him grimly almost scaring Don. 

As they walked away, Raph took a last glance at the room: blood stained the floor and walls and the dog’s insides were sprayed everywhere; one half of the canine was visible and the other one rested inches away from the rest of the body. Jack jumper ants and worms of every size feasted over the dog’s corpse and a legend written on the wall with Brownie’s blood: _“Eaten”_

* * *

“You know I’m not going to sleep for the rest of my life, right?” 

When Mikey didn’t get a reply h e thought Leo was just ignoring his childish comments in order to focus on a way to get out of that maze but this was the third time the youngest ninja asked something and Leo didn’t answer.  Now the youngest turtle was starting to get worried. His brother had been acting very strange after their fight with the snakes; he would stop on his tracks, take deep breaths and then continue walking. When Leo stopped once again, Mikey took advantage and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder feeling the sweaty but cold skin beneath his fingers.

“Leo? Are you feeling ok?” Mikey asked in concern.  Leo answered with a curt nod, then brought his hand to his mouth covering it.

“Wanna throw up?” 

“No, just... very nauseous” Leo said while panting slightly. 

“I can call Donnie if you want” 

“It’ll be ok, Mikey. Let’s keep walking” Leo tried to smile at his brother showing him everything was alright or at least convince him. 

“You sure you didn’t get bitten by the real one?” Mikey raised an eye ridge. 

Leo shook his head. “No, I cut off his head when he was distracted” 

“But you’re pale and sweating!” Mikey insisted. 

“Mikey, it’s ok. I’m just tired” 

“Then sit down and rest; we can’t keep going with you tired” 

“We have to continue” Leo shrugged off his brother’s hand and kept walking. Mikey knew there was no use on arguing with his eldest brother but he would keep an eye on him.


	17. Chapter 17

“Raph, what exactly you didn’t want me to see?” Don asked, his curiosity kicking in. 

“That bastard killed one of his dogs. Wasn’t a pretty picture, it’s all I’m gonna tell ya” Raph said curtly.

Don winced at the mental image his mind recreated. "Well… that doesn’t sound so bad. But maybe it’s because I didn’t see it like you did”

“Remember that movie Mikey made us watch last Halloween?” Raph asked.

“Don’t even mention it” Don answered rapidly; those bloody images had haunted the genius turtle for weeks before he could even dare to see his own blood again.

“That’s why I didn’t let you see what happened in that room” Raph chuckled at his brother’s panicked reaction.

“Was it _that_ bad? You know, like the movie?”

“Worse”

Don flinched. “Oh…”

“You ok?”

“Yeah… I can handle it” Don shrugged “Why so worried?”

“Just making sure you don’t have nightmares later”

Don folded arms. “I’m not Mikey”

“I know but I still don’t want you missing sleep because of that. It ain’t healthy” Raph replied. “Besides… you’re the only lil bro I have to take care of for now”

Don smiled. “Aww, Raphie’s such a good brother… and also a softie. I knew it”

“ _Sure_ , I am~ Wanna feel my _soft_ _fist_ in your _face_?” Raph threatened.

Don’s smile fell. “Gee, you just can’t take a joke”

“Was _that_ a joke? Hah! You have a lot to learn from Mikey”

“Speaking of Mikey, I got a call from him few minutes ago; Leo is not exactly in his best shape apparently”

“Wounds?” Raph asked.

“He didn’t tell me if Leo was wounded but better not discard that possibility”

“You think I should call him? You know how stubborn Leo can be when it comes to that. Who knows, maybe I could make some sense into that thick skull of his” Raph suggested.

“Doesn’t that sound familiar to you, Raphael?” Don said innocently.

“Here is a piece of advice I know you’ll take because you’re smart: _Shut up!_ ”

Don raised his hands defensively. “Hey chill! I was just saying” 

“Well, just don’t say anything” Raph replied “Imma call Leo”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”

"And why the fuck not?"

“His cell phone had only 10 minutes, remember? And he already used 3 or 4… probably more” Don said.

“Then I’ll call Mikey; I’m sure that cheesehead can help me convince Leo”

“Raph just... just don’t call then, ok?”

“Hey, I’m worried about them!” Raph replied. “Leo could be probably dying and you don’t want me to call my own brother?”

"I’m worried too! But all this situation is… is like nothing we’ve ever experienced before; those animals Flynn killed, Mikey and Leo so close yet so far…  and whatever you really saw in that room has me thinking and thinking, Raph!”

Don took a deep breath before continuing. This was not the best moment for a discussion… or a breakdown; he had to force himself to calm down. “To be honest…” He continued. “…I’m not sure what’s best to do anymore” the genius said, the knot in his throat making his speech more difficult.

“Raph, I... I hate feeling helpless; I’m supposed to be the one with the million ideas in mind”

 The sai wileder sighed. “You’re not the one to blame and if you feel like I’m pressuring you it’s because I’m also feeling helpless… and scared”

“You know it’s ok to be scared” 

“Well, that ain’t my style”

“Yeah, I know that” Don gave him a small smile which was returned gladly.

* * *

More tunnels and dead ends welcomed Leo and Mikey as they walked through the giant maze. The stress of the situation was getting into Mikey’s nerves, his mind formulating lots of questions: What kind of game Flynn was playing this time? What did he really want? Why did he drag Raph and Don into this mess too? Did he want to kill them all? Did he want to drive them insane like him? The fact that his eldest brother was acting weird and refusing to call Donatello for help made Mikey worry more and more by the second. Leo never wanted his brothers to worry about him but this was a different situation; why he couldn’t see he needed help? A grunt of pain made Mikey snap out of his thoughts and glace at his blue-clad brother who knelt in the ground clutching his stomach.

“Leo!” Mikey knelt beside his brother “What’s wrong bro? Tell me!”

Either it was due the pain or due to his stubbornness… truth was: Leo didn’t talk. Instead, he embraced himself tightly and tried to get up but failing in every attempt. Mikey felt anger building up inside him but also worry.

“That’s it! I’m calling Donnie right now” Mikey said with determination and pulled out his cell phone. There was a deafening sound, an alarm, coming from the speakers that made him stop. “What was that?”

The alarm stopped; both turtles had taken their battling positions, waiting for something to happen, for someone to come and attack them… maybe a trap. But nothing happened, at least nothing they could actually see.

“It must be the dizziness but… I think this place is shrinking” Leo commented.

Mikey placed his hand on the wall and felt it moving forward. “We have to get out of here”

Leo and Mikey ran as fast as they could from the room but the walls approached to each other, determined on crushing both turtles until their eyes popped out of their skulls and their carapaces cracked like eggshells. Their only exit was located meters away; it looked like an impossible task but they didn’t have another choice but keep running.

Mikey felt a sharp pain on his soles. “Ow! What the hell!” The floor they were running into had pieces of glass that ended at the end of that tunnel. “Glass?! Ok this is playing dirty, man”

"Keep running!” 

The youngest turtle didn’t have much of an option; taking a deep breath, he continued running along with his brother, his feet turning into a bloody mess with each step as the white floor soon changed its color with the blood of both turtles’ feet.

“Leo… I can’t… this is way too much!” Mikey whimpered.

“You want to be crushed to death?!” Leo yelled angrily.

Mikey winced. “N-no… but…”

“Then shut up and run! We’re almost there!” The exit was now a few inches away; they would make it victorious. Maybe their feet had been destroyed in the process but at least they would make it alive.

“LEO!”

_Would they?_

When Leo turned around, he saw his brother laying in the glassy ground trying to get up but failing and cutting his skin in the process. Leo looked at the exit, it was calling him… that was his salvation… but he couldn’t leave his baby brother there. He ran back.

“C’mon bro, get up!” Leo said while helping Mikey to get back on his bloody feet.

“I’m sorry; I… I tripped… my feet…” Mikey sobbed.

"It’s ok, you don’t have to explain” Leo shushed him “The exit is right there, little bro, right in front of us! Just one last effort, Mikey”

The orange masked ninja nodded and ran once again, ignoring the pain. The walls started to get closer and closer to their bodies; Leo knew those seconds they lost had been vital. Only a miracle could save them both.

“Sorry Mikey” Leo said to himself before kicking Mikey hard on his shell, pushing him directly into the safety of the next room.

“Hey! You could’ve…” Mikey looked at his surroundings; the walls were steady, not moving. He was safe at last!

“We’re safe! We did it!” Mikey cheered “WOOHOO! Take that, Flynn!”

“MIKEY!” Leo’s scream caught the youngest turtle’s attention.

“Oh god… no! Leo!”

* * *

The purple-clad ninja checked the time and according to his phone, it was past midnight outside. They weren’t going to find their brothers that night and they couldn’t leave the maze either… not even if they wanted to… so it was a clever idea to call it a night and keep searching in the morning. 

“Uhmm… Raph, it’s pretty late and I’m getting a little tired of roaming around for today”

Raph eyed at Don quizzically. “How do you know it’s late? We're trapped like rats” 

Don snorted “Cell phone, duh! Anywa, do you want crash here?” 

“Nah, next room” Raph said and kept walking. When he finally decided to stop, another unpleasant picture welcomed him; not as gruesome as the first one but it was still disturbing.

“What’s wrong?” Don asked.

Raph pointed at the chocolate & white pit bull dog’s corpse in the corner of the room. Foam and vomit came from the corner of his snout creating a small puddle; beside the dog there was an electric blue dog bowl with a brownish liquid on it and some white and pink flower heads covering the dog’s corpse. Don knelt beside the canine and checked out his collar.

“This one was Nerium” The genius confirmed.

“How did he die?” Raph asked.

“Obviously poisoned” Don said pointing at the dog’s bowl.

“Antifreeze?”

 Don shook his head negatively. “No, this doesn’t look like antifreeze at all”

The red-clad ninja sighed heavily and abandoned the room; there was nothing they could do for that dog so what was the point of staying there anyways? The image of Brownie’s butchered body was still fresh on his mind and now this; it just gave Raph one more reason to shove his sai up Flynn’s ass next time they met… because he _would_ make sure they meet again, he couldn’t… no… he _wouldn’t_ get away with this so easily.

Raph stopped swiftly on his tracks as he reached the next room. “You’ve _got_ to be _fucking_ kidding me!”

* * *

 

Mikey stared with horror at the blue-clad ninja’s left forearm trapped between the now motionless walls and judging by the expression in Leo’s face, he was in mayor pain.

“I-I’ll get you out of there! Don't worry, Leo. I got this!”

He started pulling Leo’s good arm; meanwhile, the sword wielder impulsed himself towards his brother, screaming because of the pain. Mikey winced with every scream but focused on the main task: getting Leo out of that place in one piece.

“Just a little more, Leo!”

Leo nodded and breathed deeply before Mikey pulled again. The sound of bones cracking was muffled by Leo’s screams; Mikey continued pulling with all his strength and will power, his ears trying to ignore the pained screams coming from his brother. He noticed some tears coming from Leo’s eyes; this sight was shocking.

 _“Geez, he must be in real pain”_ Mikey thought. One final pull and both turtles found themselves in the floor, Mikey laying on his back and Leo on his side clutching his fractured forearm and sobbing quietly.

“It’s alright, Leo” Mikey comforted him. “You’re safe. Everything is ok”

“You… you alright?”  

“It’s not me you should be worried about” Mikey smiled sadly. “C’mon, let me wrap your arm”

Leo resisted the best he could while Mikey tied his arm with his belt, not wanting to scream more than he already had. “Thanks Mikey”

"I’m sorry bro. If I hadn’t tripped…”

“Don’t blame yourself” Leo hugged him with his good arm. “We’re alive and that’s all that matters. But you should check out your feet; you could have glass fragments inside”

Mikey smiled at him and rested his head on his shoulder. “Only cuts; nothing serious. How about you?”

“Same”

Mikey snuggled closer to his brother. “I’m sorry… I really am, Leo”

“I told you already. It wasn’t your fault” Leo tightened his grip on his brother.

“Ow, careful dude. My arms are not in their best shape either” Mikey chuckled.

Leo winced as he saw the cuts Mikey had on his arms, legs and face; clearly the result of his little accident. “Why don’t we sleep for now? We need some rest, after all” He said, making himself comfortable.

“Sure. Need help with your arm?” Mikey asked.

Leo shook his head. “I’ll be fine, thanks little bro”

“Ok, night Leo” Mikey laid on his side but as close as he could to his brother. 

The latter smiled and caressed his brother’s temple. “Sleep well, Mikey”


	18. Chapter 18

Don continued analyzing Necrium’s body when Raph called him from the next room. “Hey Don, check this out!”

“It better not be another surprise”

“Sorry to disappoint you but yes, we have another surprise here” Raph said as he pointed at the couple of dead dogs in the corner of the room.

“Hell, no” Don shook his head in disbelief “This guy won’t give us a break!” 

Don and Raph stared at the dead dogs lying in a considerably big blood puddle. The dogs had bites everywhere, proving they had fought to the death. “I’m just glad Mikey is not here to see this” The genius sighed.

“There’s a note here” Raph pointed at the red paper beside the dogs’ corpses. _”_ _Inside this maze, Grim awaits”_

“Another riddle. Ok, this guy is going to make me hate riddles forever” Don crumbled the paper and tossed it carelessly on the ground.

“What now?” Raph asked, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“One thing is for sure, I’m not in the mood for sleeping anymore and I’m getting real pissed off of all this stupidity. I mean, what else could happen now?!” 

As predicted, a loud alarm filled the room with its noise announcing incoming trouble. “Goddammit! Now what?!” 

“Don, it’s just me or this room is getting smaller?” Raph said, noticing the walls moving towards them.

“Fuck...”

* * *

 

Mikey stirred his arms and let out a long yawn; his wounds and cuts didn’t hurt so much, his feet had suffered the mayor damage and he checked them again just in case he had missed a piece of glass. He also checked Leo’s cuts; his brother’s cuts were deeper than his, Mikey wondered how had Leo managed to run with those deep and multiple cuts but then again… this was Leo… always doing the impossible. The orange-clad ninja chuckled at the thought.

Leo, on the other hand, had started to move and open his eyes; wincing at the pain on his arm. The improvised tourniquet and bandage to stabilize it didn’t help too much but it was better than nothing.

“Hey bro. Feeling better?” Mikey asked.

“A little. How about you? Your wounds keep hurting?”

“Kinda but at least my feet stopped bleeding” Mikey chuckled. Leo tried to stand up and cringed at the sudden pain on his middle area.

“Leo?”

“I’m ok; it’s just… my stomach again” Leo said wincing. “Hurts but I can’t explain how and I think I’m dizzier”

Mikey looked at him in worry; he hated being in this situation, he wasn’t Don or Raph… at least Raph would stay calmed and Don would have the solution to the problem right away.

“I know I was against this but… can you call Don, please?” Leo sighed.

“On it” Mikey pulled out his cell phone. “Aww man!”

“What?”

Mikey showed Leo the smashed cell phone. While they tried to escape from the crushing walls and he tripped, accidentally, the orange-clad turtle had landed on his shell cell destroying it instantly.

“Use mine” Leo handed him his phone.

“But we only have like… 10 minutes. Well, not exactly 10 minutes… more like 7 or 6” Mikey reminded him. 

“Hmm… you’re right. Well, the pain is tolerable anyway, so…”

“You sure you’ll be ok?” Mikey insisted while helping Leo to get on his feet.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s keep going” Leo said tiredly and started walking with Mikey following him very close.

* * *

Meanwhile, Raph and Don found themselves running for their lives, avoiding the crushing walls and trying to bear with the broken glass below their feet.

“It was bad enough being trapped on a giant maze and now this?! Crushed to death and not only that; there’s fucking glass all over the floor?!”  

Don gasped in realization. “Wait a sec… the riddle”

“Not a good time, Don!”

“Raph, don’t you see it?!”

“See what?” 

“Remember what Flynn told you about the names?”

“Explain me that later, genius!” Raph interrupted him as he yanked Don’s arm, pulling him towards the nearest exit. They barely made it out alive but they fooled death once again.

"Ok, you were saying?” 

“Flynn said something about his dogs’ names; that they had a meaning and purpose”

“So?” 

“What did you really see in the room where you found Brownie? I want the truth” Don said in a serious tone.

Raph hesitated but finally talked. “The dog’s guts where all over the place and the word _‘eaten’_ written on the wall”

“I _do_ remember Mikey saying something about Brownie” Don started pacing, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“The numbskull was talking about food!”

“Well, that was the riddle!” Don snarled “Word _‘eaten’_ plus Flynn’s dog’s name: _‘Brownie’_... equals?”

“So you saying someone, probably Mikey, ate brownies?” Raph raised an eye ridge. "I don't get how's that relevant"

“It is! Just think about it; the dogs’ names are clues… well, more like messages about what will happen to us here” Don explained.

“But Mikey…"

“Ok, that one already happened” 

“What about Maze, the third dog?” Raph asked.

“ _Maze_ is where we are right now and Grim…as in…”

“Grim… Reaper?” Raph said doubtfully.

“Could be; that’s one of Death’s names so that kinda makes sense. In conclusion: Flynn wants us all death here in the maze. The last dog, Victoria… that’s spanish for ‘victory’, which means…”

“That son of a bitch is way wrong if he thinks he’s gonna win” Raph growled and resumed his walking, wincing at the pain coming from his feet.

“Wait, wait! We’re forgetting Necrium” Don stopped him.

“Necrium? Oh, you mean the poisoned dog. Any ideas?”

Don shook his head. “That one I can’t explain it yet; I was thinking about the cobras but none of us got bitten and there’s no message that indicates one of us actually had to get bitten”

“I’m gonna call Mikey” Raph started dialing his brother’s number.

* * *

“Wait…” Leo stopped on his tracks.

“Need something?” Mikey asked. Leo shook his head and used his good hand to rub his eyes insistently.  “Oh, you're getting tired?”

“More like drowsy” Leo said swaying a little but continued walking without his brother’s support.

“Uhmm… bro? Your hand is shaking” Mikey commented.

Leo eyed at his hand and confirmed it was trembling a little. Strange… he didn’t feel cold; in fact, the room wasn’t cold at all. Then why did his hand start trembling? And… where did that other hand come from? Was he seeing double now?

“Sit down; I’m calling Don and don’t worry, I’ll try to be quick”

Leo obeyed his brother’s command in the act. This was getting very odd; first he hadn’t focused enough while attacking the cobras and that almost cost him, then his breathing seemed to be not good enough to satisfy his need for air, now his hand trembled and has was seeing… wait… since when his heart had started to beat that fast?! 

“Mik…” Leo’s words were interrupted by a sharp pain on his chest. Darkness claimed him after that.

* * *

Raph sighed. “Fuck... Mikey’s cell phone is dead”

“Don’t sweat it. I’m calling Leo” Don said. He didn’t have to wait too much; a hyperventilated and panicked Mikey answered right away.

_"Donnie! Thank god, I was about to call you”_

“Is something wrong, Mike?” Don asked worriedly.

_“It’s Leo. He just fainted! I don’t know why… please tell me you and Raph are getting closer”_ Mikey’s voice broke for a second; Don could notice this clearly but he couldn’t do anything to give some comfort to his baby brother… this wasn’t the time _._

“We don’t know Mikey but I think we solved Flynn’s riddles”

_"Huh?”_

“Long story; tell me… what happened before Flynn locked you and Leo here?”

_"Well, Flynn made a tea party; you know, with tea and brownies… and I have to say they were awesome-!”_

“Mikey, focus! What do you know about Necrium?”

_"The plant?”_

Don arched a brow. “Plant?”

 _“Yeah! Flynn said something about a plant called Necrium oleander. He said that thing was poisonous”_ Mikey explained.

“How did it look like?” 

 _"Uh… kinda like a bush with white and p…”_ Static sounds interrupted the call making everyone to get tense; it was impossible the 10 minutes where over, it just couldn’t be… could it?

“White and pink… just like…” Don murmured, his eyes widening at the sudden discovery. In a blink, both ninjas were covered in total darkness as the lights in the maze went off all at once.

 _“The lights are gone! Great, just great!”_  

“Calm down! Wherever you are, don’t move and make sure Leo is ok and stable. Raph and I are on our way”

 _“Ok, but hurry u…”_ Static again and the call was over.

“10 minutes are over” Don turned to the last spot he had seen Raphael. “We have to…”

When he tried to touch the red-clad ninja, his hand met a cold wall. He kept walking and touching everything around him in order to find his brother but more walls greeted him.

“Raph?” Don called again and again there was no answer.  “This is not a good time for jokes! We have to…”

The lights went on again. Don found himself alone… his brother was gone and the maze had been changed. The genius turtle slapped himself across the face. “This is just getting better and better”

  
  



	19. Chapter 19

Mikey was in the verge of tears when the lights turned off suddenly and he didn’t hear Don’s voice from the other side of the phone anymore. Now he didn’t know what to do next; Leo had fainted and was probably getting sicker by the minute, his cell phone’s minutes were over, Mikey’s cell phone was destroyed and now the place was completely dark. The young ninja just wanted to curl up in a ball in any corner of the room and cry his heart out; panic was taking control over him and his reactions.  

“C’mon Mikey, pull yourself together! Leo’s sick, he needs you now. Don’t be a cry baby!”

He knelt slowly, his hands exploring the area trying to find his blue-clad brother. After all those traps and notes they had read inside that maze, Mikey knew perfectly Flynn was watching all their moves and that made him imagine the worse; he was conscious Samuel hated Leo because he never submitted to him, because Leo showed him he wasn’t scared or weak no matter how bad the punishment was.

“Calm down… calm down… you’ll find him; he’ll be ok, he’ll be fine” Mikey kept that mantra in his mind in an attempt to comfort himself while he walked through the uncountable tunnels engulfed in darkness. The smell of blood caught his attention. 

“God, no… please, don’t let it be Leo… please…” 

The orange-clad ninja felt the cold, sticky substance dampening his feet. “Leo? Raph? Donnie? Anyone?”

_The silence, the smell of blood, the darkness…_

“Leo, it’s me… Mikey”

_Silence and darkness… blood below his feet and now in the walls…_

“Guys… please… answer me!” 

The lights went on again.

* * *

He couldn’t open his eyes even though he tried; his stomach was screaming in pain and his heart had gone mad accelerating and decreasing its beating, his breathing was erratic and saliva came out of his mouth profusely creating a small puddle.

Leo clutched his stomach tightly, his moans of pain echoing through the corridors of the maze. Using all his willpower, he managed to get himself on his hands and knees; once in that position, he started to throw up. Again, his heart went crazy and started beating faster and faster; the blue-clad ninja tried to breathe through his mouth but he puked more.

His arms started to shake and gave up resisting Leo’s weight. He crumbled to ground once again, almost landing on his puke. The sword wielder’s heartbeats slowed down, his breathing still laborated and his stomach burning more. Leo’s eyes opened at last but only darkness greeted him.

“M…M-Mik…ey…”

When the lights went on again, he noticed there was no sign of his brother. He was alone… or maybe not?

 

* * *

_Angry_ wasn’t exactly the best way to describe Raph’s emotional state right now. If they could, hot steam would come out of his ears and his eyes would melt you at the first glance. He couldn’t wait for the moment he met Flynn again; he would make him suffer just the way he and his brothers had suffered and even more. Every now and then, Raph would punch the maze’s walls hard while muttering curses.

“That dickface better be hiding well, cuz when I find him…”

A gagging sound made him stop. “Who’s there?!”

Just like that, the gagging sound stopped. Raph took his weapons out of his belt and prepared himself for anything. “Get your fucking ass out of there, whoever you are!” 

“Raph?” A raspy voice called. The red-clad ninja tucked his sais back on his belt at the sound of that voice. 

A shaky figure walked outside the room and Raph’s eyes widened. “Mikey!”

Raph ran to meet his youngest brother but the latter fell on his brother’s arms sobbing and trembling uncontrollably. Raph tried to keep him on his feet but Mikey’s knees buckled and he was starting to cry harder. “Calm down, calm down! I’m here” 

“Blood… everywhere… so much blood and… and…” Mikey muttered before he started to gag again.

“Deep breaths, Mikey. Deep breaths” Raph instructed and Mikey did what he could to stay calm.

“It was horrible... so horrible... Raph, i-it...” The youngest turtle pressed himself closer to his brother seeking comfort and protection.

Raph followed the bloody trial left for Mikey’s feet with his eyes and caught a glance of what had scared Mikey so badly. “Oh god, tell me you didn’t go in there”

“It was… d-dark… I-I didn’t know where I w-was going…” Mikey sobbed. “The l-lights… went on and… and…”

“Sshhhh, it’s ok. I understand” Raph rubbed the back of Mikey’s head while he walked away with his baby brother who held onto him and soaking his shoulder with his tears. It was when Raph’s hand went up to Mikey’s cheek when he noticed the bandage on his brother’s left side.

“Mikey, your…” He obligated Mikey to break the embrace so he could see him clearly. Mikey’s face left side was protected by a blood stained bandage. “What happened to your face? Why is your eye covered? Does it hurt?”

Raph’s questions overwhelmed the youngest ninja who still trembled, sobbed and hiccupped like a little kid whose pet has been hit by a car in front of his eyes… or maybe worse.

“Mikey, I want you to calm down and tell me what happened to your face” Raph’s voice was calm but firm and demanding. The orange-clad ninja just shook his head not meeting Raph’s amber eyes. “C’mon Mikey! If you don’t tell me, I can’t help you!”

Raph’s insistent request was still being ignored by a very distraught Mikey. “STOP CRYING, WILL YOU?”

Mikey flinched and cried harder; his knees finally giving up making him fall to ground.

 _"Shit…”_ Raph knelt and embraced his brother once again “I’m sorry. I know you’re scared… I am scared too! But if we wanna get outta here _alive_ so we can fucking kill the piece of shit that did this to us, we have to stay calmed and focus”

“O-ok”

Raph stood up and brought Mikey on his feet as he did so. “We’ll find Don and Leo in no time, bro”

 

* * *

“RAPH! MIKEY! LEO!”

 

Don had been screaming his lungs out for a while, his throat was aching and his mouth was dry; sweat made the genius’ turtle’s skin glisten and his legs begged for a little resting but this wasn’t time to give up just to ‘get some energy back’. With Mikey and Raph lost inside the maze and away from him and Leo’s state getting critical by the second, Don just couldn’t even dare to think of relaxing and taking a breath. Eventually, his body decided it was enough and made Donatello collapse on his knees while panting.

He gnashed his teeth in rage “You bastard…” He stood up weakly again hitting the wall in the process. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?! WE HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU!” He screamed as loud as he could.

His screams echoed; not answer was given back. He sighed heavily. “Alright Don… keep it together”

A bark interrupted his thoughts. A black dog was staring at him with a big large package in her mouth.

“Victoria?” Don recognized that dog and he was a little surprised she didn’t attacked him like she tried the first time they meet. The black pit bull dropped the package in front of Don and ran away. The genius turtle ripped the brown, bloody stained wrapping and gasped. “Leo’s sword…”

The weapon had blood all over it: the sheath, the ribbons, the blade. Don couldn’t articulate a word. The sword he held right now could’ve had been used to…

“No… no, he can’t…”

On the tip of the blade, there was a note attached to it: _“You better hurry. It’s not polite to keep a dying being waiting. Flynn”_

“You won’t take my brother, son of a bitch. I swear it!” Placing the sword back on its sheath and on his back, Don ran full speed following Victoria’s bloody trail she had left behind. He hoped it wasn’t too late.


	20. Chapter 20

The smell around him was disgusting; a mix of blood, vomit, decaying bodies, burnt flesh… he couldn’t take a deep breath if he tried; neither the environment where he was nor his own body allowed him to do so. Where was he? Why he couldn’t move yet? Why he was in so much pain? Where were Mikey and the others?

These and more questions clouded Leo’s thoughts as he laid unconscious in the grassy surface where he rested on. He blinked twice; blurred images passed in front of his eyes… a glance of red, yellow and orange dancing together, creating undescriptible shapes. The heat was coming from those colors… was he hallucinating? Maybe, it was a possibility. Leo tried to stir but noticed his arms were tightly tied behind his back, his right arm screaming in pain because of the fracture; same thing with his legs and… was it a gag?

One of the long tails of his blue mask rested beside him; whoever that did this had used his mask as a gag. Now a little more conscious Leonardo could appreciate the cuts all over his arms and legs, one of his swords was missing and the colors he had seen a few moments ago came from a considerably big incinerator. Piles of recently killed animals and very old ones were waiting to be cremated. The blue-clad ninja hoped he wouldn’t have to share those animals’ destiny as well. The smell of the burnt corpses and the same torturing pain on his stomach made him want to puke again but with the gag in his mouth… it wasn’t a pleasant thought. The urge of vomiting became hard to ignore; he felt something slightly acid making its way up his throat; Leo didn’t felt this was a normal puke… this one had a metallic flavor. He was going to vomit blood. Where was Donatello when you needed it? 

He seriously didn’t know… and that sucked… _big time_.

“Well, well, well… look who finally decided to wake up and join the living ones though I have to say, it won’t be for too long. Poor thing” Leo tilted his face up at the voice. His eyes widened at the sight of a man smiling at him. 

“Hello Leonardo, remember me?”

Flynn was dressed in clothes impeccably white from his hat to the tip of his shoes; the top of his cane had a spherical shaped gem, an emerald, and inside it there was his baby brother’s eye. Samuel stared pacing around the defenseless turtle like a vulture. “You look terrible. So sad… you used to be a brave, strong… fearless leader…”

Leo flinched at the familiar nickname; it sounded so vulgar and repulsive when that psychopath said it.

“…but now, look at you!” Samuel continued “Wounded, helpless, scared… are you scared Leonardo?” 

Leo glared at him shaking his head negatively though in that moment, he was the most terrified turtle alive. But he wouldn’t give Flynn that satisfaction.

“No? Not even a little bit?” Flynn insisted, his smile gone. Leo shook his head again. The man sighed and pulled out a small taser gun. “You remember this, don’t you?”

Soon enough Leo started twisting in the floor, his screams muffled by the gag. While the blue-clad turtle was being electrocuted, Samuel poked Leo’s deepest wounds with his cane making them bleed profusely focusing more on Leo’s broken arm.  

“Do not try to impress me with your powers of resistance. We both know you’re dying… there’s no need to prolong your suffering” Flynn chuckled. The taser stopped and Leo started to feel dizzier, his gagging reflex activated telling him he had to puke again. 

Flynn noticed this and laughed. “Someone needs to throw up, huh? And how are you supposed to do that without staining your precious mask?”

It seemed like the more he tried to ignore it, the sicker he felt; he had to do it so badly. 

“You know, you can always swallow your puke… like the animal you are” Samuel hissed evilly. Leo glared at him once again and focused on controlling his organism.

“Oh c’mon, dogs do it all the time! Oh wait, you’re not a dog… not yet”

Leo couldn’t believe his bad luck when he saw Flynn pulling out a very familiar leather collar. This was about to get uglier.

 

* * *

 

“…and then I had to pull Leo out of those walls; you should have listened to his bones cracking, it was… it was terrible!”

Once Mikey had calmed down, he started telling Raphael what had happened to them during all those months since their capture till the last moment he saw Leo inside the maze. Raph was horrified when his baby brother told him about how he lost his eye and Mikey almost broke down again when Raph told him about the things they had investigated about Flynn.

Raph sighed. “I can’t believe you had to go through all that”

“Don’t worry Raphie. Leo gave me strength all the time and… and I was always thinking about you and Donnie… and Klunk… and sensei and our friends and…” Mikey’s voice started to break the more he talked, Raph didn’t want to risk a second panic attack so he had to say something to cheer him up.

“And pizza?”

“I almost forgot the pizza! Dude, the first thing I’ll do once we’re outta here is get me a huge pizza with all the toppings I can imagine”

Raph’s trick worked after all, Mikey was back to his smiling self… kinda. “Once we’re back home, I’ll make ya the biggest pizza you’ve ever seen and it’ll be only yours”

“Aww, that’s why I love you, Raphie” Mikey grinned and hugged his brother.

“Yeah, yeah… same” Raph chuckled. Then something caught his attention “UGH! What’s that smell?”

“Dude! Smells worse than your room after two weeks!” Mikey replied covering his nose.

“Be glad you’re hurt, Mikey. Or else you’d be regretting that” Raph continued walking, the smell intensified as both turtles got closer to the source of the horrible odor.

“UGGH! Gets worse… I don’t wanna go there!”

“Leo or Don could be there, Mikey. Let’s move” Raph insisted and ran through the corridors.

Mikey sighed and followed his brother. “The things I do for a pizza”

 

* * *

 

“You’re starting to annoy me, Leonardo”

 The beaten turtle trembled on the ground barely alive, extra wounds had been added to his already tortured body. The collar had been tightened more worsening his breathing; to make it worse, the damn thing was hot and his neck still had some opened cuts and raw, extra sensitive skin. Leo’s heart beats were fastening again, pumping more blood that oozed through his cuts and mouth; he wished he was death right now, this was too much… too much.

“I’m starting to wonder if I gave you the correct one… you should be dead by now” Flynn muttered. Leo gave him a questioning look.

“Oh, don’t mind me” The man smiled “I’m just thinking out loud. Shall we continue playing?”

With that said, Flynn pulled out a small knife from the incinerator’s embers; the blade was red and steaming hot. Leo had never felt so scared like this before… he began to hyperventilate while Samuel knelt beside him and pointed at his right, broken arm.

“Let’s see if you start singing now, like little Michelangelo did when I took his precious eye”

The knife didn’t touch Leo’s wounded arm but the tip was introduced into a cut on his leg automatically making Leo scream like he had never done in his whole life. The action was repeated a few times while Samuel laughed hysterically. “Now you’re cooperating” The man laughed. “Are you afraid now, Leonardo? Are you terrified?”

 Leo’s tears begged for release. This was so humiliating. _“Just kill me… let me die… I can’t… can’t… so much…”_

“Answer me!” Flynn insisted plunging the blade deep inside another wound.

Again, Leo screamed; a sob escaped against his will. Nothing and no one could stop the following tears and the whimpering; the wounded turtle had no other choice but abandon his pride and… surrender.

“Now tell me boy... are you scared?”

At last, Leo nodded before passing out from exhaustion.

* * *

 

**_A little bit earlier…_ **

 

Victoria’s paw tracks weren’t taking Don anywhere, he felt like he had been walking in circles. The genius sighed in frustration. “Where the hell are you, Flynn” 

The bloody tracks had stopped now leaving Don clueless and without any other chances to find his blue-clad brother. He didn’t want to give up so soon but Mikey and Raph were lost too; choosing was hard but in the end he resolved he’d have to stop searching Leo in order to find his two other brothers. Looking at the sword on his hands, Don muttered an apology to his leader and ventured inside a new corridor. He didn’t have to walk further to feel the nasty odor that came from the end of the passage, a smell somehow familiar to him but still disgusting.

 “I bet is a room full of dead animals… or worse” Don kept walking, covering his nose. He froze still when he heard some voices coming from it.

_“Leo or Don could be there, Mikey. Let’s move”_

"... Raph?"

_“The things I do for a pizza”_

“And Mikey too! _…_ Mikey? Raph?” Don called hoping what he had heard was not just an illusion.

_“Is that Donnie?”_ He heard Mikey say.

_“Don! Over here!”_ Raph’s voice joined.

The purple-clad ninja ran following his brothers’ voices. “GUYS!” Don waved as he spotted them at the end of the corridor. Finally some good news.

“Donnie!” The genius saw a maskless turtle running right towards him, half of his face was wrapped in a blood stained bandage.

“Oh my god… Mikey!”

Both brothers hugged each other tightly not caring about the painful bruises and cuts in their skins; after months of search this was something they’d been wanting to do so badly, they just needed to hold each other, feel the other just to confirm he was there… real and alive. The red-clad turtle joined them a few seconds later and smiled warmly at the scene; Don and Mikey had been always the closest ones in the family, it was expected he reacted like this.

“My god… Donnie, I missed you so much” Mikey tightened the embrace, not wanting to let go. As much as he wanted to leave his brothers like this, Raph had to interrupt them when he noticed Don was carrying one of Leo’s swords… but Leo wasn’t there. “Don, did you find Leo?”

Don sighed, breaking the embrace too soon for Mikey’s liking. “No, I’ve been following Flynn’s dog since she brought me this” He explained referring to the katana.

“Do you think he’ll be ok?” Mikey asked. “I mean, he was pretty sick before I lost him”

“I don’t think he was just _sick._ So we better brace ourselves for something worse” Don said.

 _"_ _Answer me!”_ That voice echoed through the corridors getting everyone’s attention.

“What was that?” Mikey asked looking at his surroundings.

_“Now tell me boy... are you scared?”_

“C’mon guys! This way!” Raph called.

The three turtles followed the sudden sound of whimpering coming from the room at the end of the maze. When they opened the door, they found themselves outside the maze and inside a greenhouse. They couldn’t help the gasp that came from them when they saw a white suited figure standing beside an unconscious Leonardo. 

Flynn smiled. “Welcome, turtles…”

From the bushes, two male Siberian tigers emerged; each one of them with black, thick leather collars just like the one Leo had on his neck.

“…we’ve been waiting for you”


	21. Chapter 21

With their eyes wide opened and their mouths hanging in surprise, fright and shock; the three turtles stared at the maniac standing before them all dressed up in white, not a single drop of blood from his beaten victim on his white gloves. Samuel had been very careful in not making a mess; they couldn’t say the same about Leonardo who laid unconscious in a pool of his own blood.

“Congratulations, you have made it to the end of the maze. I am quite impressed” Flynn said while clapping his hands lazily.

“You piece of shit! What did you do to Leo?!” Raph growled. The tigers roared at him and stood protectively in front of their master.

“Easy there Raphael. My boys here are very well trained… and a little hungry, I believe”

“Think so? I can see they’re full enough, if you ask me”

“My dear Michelangelo, always making me laugh” Samuel chuckled. 

“What have you done to Leo!” Don demanded.

“Just play with him to pass to time. We were having so much fun until he fainted… hmmm… sad” Flynn sighed “I already had him begging and crying like a little girl, I had finally managed to humiliate him, then he passed out! Can you believe it?”

Raphael couldn’t stand hearing that lunatic any longer. He ran towards Flynn, his sais ready for some action; he didn’t care about the tigers, all he wanted now was to kill the bastard that had half killed his brother and leader. Flynn pressed a gray button and the tiger with the white collar ran to face the red-clad turtle; the latter took impulse and jumped off the grass. As he came down, he turned on his back and his shell impacted hard on the tiger’s skull. Taking advantage of this little distraction, Raph continued running, preparing his sai to plunge into Flynn’s body. He was a few inches of the white suited man when out of nowhere appeared the second tiger, pinning the red-clad ninja to ground.

“Nuh-huh~ You forgot about his brother” Samuel grinned “You see, just like you boys… these tigers are technically  _‘brothers’_ and they don’t like strangers to ruin the other’s fun”

“Please, don’t hurt him!” Mikey pleaded.

“I will not. See the collars? I think you must remember them, Michelangelo”  The orange-clad ninja touched his neck absentmindedly. Of course he remembered them.  

“Ranjiv and Sourja were trained since they were little cubs with those collars and just if Raphael behaves, they will not harm him”

“What do you want from us? Why are you doing this?” Don asked.

“You must know about me, Donatello. You investigated about me; isn’t that true Leonardo? Oh, I forgot he’s off to dreamland” Flynn mocked the limp form of the blue-clad turtle, nudging him with his foot.

“I.. I don’t get it”

“Well, you see… before I was imprisoned, I had experimented with every kind of animal; domestic and wild, from dogs to wolves, from lizards to pythons, from rats to elephants! And when I thought I had seen it all, you appeared out of nowhere! Giant, intelligent, talking turtles! My investigation would not be complete until I captured you and here we are now”

“You said this was a game to you! Not a stupid investigation!” Mikey replied.

Flynn smiled. “So you’ve been listening to me after all Michelangelo”

“If you’re done talking, I’d like someone to take this oversized cat off me!” Raph growled.

“Ranjiv, play time is over. Same for you Sourja” Flynn said pressing a gray and a yellow button. The tigers backed up after that.

“Listen, even though you’ve caused so much pain to us… we won’t hurt you or do something in revenge but please… _please_ , let us go” Don said as calm as possible, even though what he wanted in that moment was to push Flynn inside the incinerator behind him.

“You may” Samuel pressed another button and a glass door opened “But he stays” he added, pointing at Leo with his cane.

“We ain't leaving without Leo!”

“I don’t see why not; he’s practically dead. And _if_ he survives... he has a debt to pay. Remember Michelangelo? It was his fault you lost your eye”

“No…” Mikey said softly.

“It was his fault you got captured by my men; such a good leader he ended up to be” Samuel grinned evilly as he saw Mikey’s eyes started moistening.

“Shut up!” Don yelled.

“If it wasn’t for his stubbornness, I would have released you 2 months ago!” Samuel continued while looking at Mikey “But no… he had to fight me, defy me! I had to teach him a lesson so I made up that little maze; knowing that all his brothers would be there, he would push himself to the limit trying to find you alive and that would bring him closer and closer to a painful death”

“I’ve had enough!” Raph growled and charged again into battle.

“Ranjiv, Sourja!”

Both tigers roared and ran towards the turtles. Don hit Sourja with his bo and motioned Mikey to grab the sword on his back. Once he got the blade, Mikey aimed at Sourja’s paws making cuts on them which made the tiger back up but not completely. Don and Raph, on the other hand, were having difficulties on causing harm to Ranjiv; that tiger was pretty fast. 

“Must have been a real challenge to figure out all my riddles, Donatello” Flynn’s voice irrupted.

“They were pretty lame, if you ask me” Don said while avoiding Ranjiv’s claws.

Sourja had grabbed the sword with his teeth and snatched it out of Mikey’s hands; the red-clad ninja jumped behind the tiger and put him in a tight headlock while his brother found the sword. Meanwhile, Ranjiv had managed to pin Don down and the only thing that prevented him to get his head bitten off was his bo staff.

Samuel chuckled. “Was there one you couldn’t figure out?”

“Necrium” Don grunted “What happened to that dog? What killed him?!”

“You should know, you are the genius” Samuel laughed “Need a clue?”

“Donnie, hang on!” Mikey appeared behind Sourja, sword on his hands, and plunged the blade on the tiger’s back. Sourja let out a pained roar and let go off Donatello.

“Mikey, Don! Need a hand here!” Raph yelled; Ranjiv had cornered him and his weapons were out of sight.

While Don and Mikey ran to help his brother, Flynn continued talking. “Leonardo’s caring nature intrigued me so much I had to test it to the limit and his last test came in the form of a simple cup of tea”

Mikey stopped on his tracks. The world seemed to have stopped around him as his mind recalled the memories of a few hours ago…

 

* * *

 

_"He's not drinking that!"_

_"Dude, don't go all paranoid on him"_

_"I wonder if Leonardo will ever repay the favor… would you, Leonardo? Would you repay the favor? Even if it costs you your life?"_

_"Yes, I would"_

_"Shall we drink our tea then?"_

_“…Last cups are always very special"_

 

* * *

“You... you poisoned him!” 

“I see you are not the only genius, Donatello. Michelangelo solved the riddle! Isn’t it amazing?” Flynn grinned. 

Mikey wasn’t the kind of turtle who let anger take over his actions. This time, though, he made an exception.“You bastard!” The orange-clad ninja grabbed Leo’s sword tightly and ran towards Samuel who stood calmly beside Leo’s body.

“Mikey, look out!” Don yelled. Before Mikey could do something, Sourja, the wounded tiger, jumped on him. With all the noise in the room, Leo began to regain conscience.

“Ah, you are awake now” Flynn said out loud alarming the others but they were too busy trying not to get eaten to do something for Leo.

The blue-clad ninja observed how his brothers struggled with the tigers, avoiding the claws and the deadly fangs. Mikey had large gashes on his legs and arms, Raph had been slashed on his left shoulder and was bleeding profusely but with Mikey’s help he had managed to knock out Sourja and now both brothers focused on helping Don who was pinned under Ranjiv.

“Nice scene, isn’t it? Three brothers playing with two big cats; I find it lovely”

Leo continued looking at his brothers, his vision blurred by the tears, his heartbeats were growing weaker and he could barely breathe now.

“My, you’re so pale! I bet someone here is been longing to see you like this, so helpless and useless. Right, Raphael?” Flynn said mockingly while hitting Leo’s broken arm hard with his cane making him scream and shed some tears.

“You son of a bitch! Don’t you dare touch him again!” Raph growled and threw a couple of shurikens at Samuel, slashing his face. The latter glared at the red-clad ninja and pressed Leo’s remaining katana against the wounded turtle’s neck.

“ _You_ better don’t touch _me_ again, Raphael, if you want your brother in one piece” Flynn threatened.

Mikey slashed Ranjiv’s face making him free Donatello from his grasp. With two wounded tigers it would be easier to avoid them and get Leo back but Flynn had other plans. The white suited man pressed the gray and yellow buttons on his remote and both tigers knocked the three turtles with a hit of their paws sending them to the glassy walls. The ninjas couldn’t get up, their legs were too tired and the cuts in their soles had started to bleed again making every step very uncomfortable. Leonardo’s heart ached terribly not only for the poison he had been given to but for the rage and feeling of impotence that grew bigger inside him. Tears unwillingly rolled down his face and Flynn followed their path running his finger through Leo’s cheek.

“Beautiful… finally some tears. I have waited too long to see them” Samuel chuckled evilly “Do you wish to help them, don’t you? Go on! Run and be a hero… if you can get up, that is” 

Raphael and his brothers clumsily stood on their feet just to fall down on their knees once again. Fighting hordes of ninjas was way different than fighting two big, strong and wild tigers; adrenaline was wearing off and tiredness had begun to claim them. Leo’s gaze locked with Mikey’s remaining eye like saying _‘I’m sorry’_ and _‘farewell’_ ; they looked so lifeless and full of tears.

“Come on, Leonardo! Fight me!” Samuel snarled while kicking Leo’s stomach making him curl up into a ball. The torturer grinned manically and grabbed the turtle’s face “You’re weak and I have broken you at last! And now my babies will feast on your flesh!”

Leonardo’s brothers gasped loudly when they saw both tigers walking towards their wounded leader. The felines apparently weren’t in a rush to eat Leo; they walked in a slow pace like if they were stalking their prey.  The orange-clad ninja dug his fingers in the dirt and tried to stand up once again failing miserably. He couldn’t believe his protector, his big brother, his leader was about to die before their eyes; he had to do something!

On the other hand, Donatello had noticed the reason why the tigers hadn’t pounced on Leo right away when he tilted his head and glanced at the black remote Flynn held. “It’s that remote; helps Flynn to control the tigers!”

"Well, took ya sweet time figure that out genius?”

“This is no time for sarcasm, Raph” Don replied “We… where’s Mikey?”

“The time for making plans is over, Donatello!” Samuel laughed. “Come, my babies, dinner is served”

Ranjiv and Sourja growled and came closer and closer to Leonardo; the latter let out a sigh and closed his eyes…waiting for death to claim him.  


	22. Chapter 22

A sharp and loud cry took everyone by surprise.

Just before Flynn could register where it had come form he found himself kicked into a glass wall which such intensity his forehead impacted against it opening a large wound, his nose fractured slightly and his lip split having bitten it in the process. Samuel opened his eyes to see a furious Michelangelo standing protectively in front of his fallen brother.

“If you want him, you’ll have to get through me first!”

Samuel chuckled. “Oh dear Michelangelo, that will be quite easy” After pressing both remote’s buttons, the tigers began to run towards Mikey.

“C’mon Don, we gotta help him or else he’ll be cat chow!” Raph said helping Don the best he could. Both grabbed their discarded weapons altogether with Mikey’s forgotten nunchacks and pounced on Sourja.

Mikey lured Ranjiv far away from Leo and waited till the tiger rose on his back legs to slash his stomach area with his brother’s sword. Ranjiv jumped back and roared in pain; the feline slowly started to back up but Mikey didn’t give him the chance to escape, he jumped as high as he could and threw a kick to the weakened tiger’s jaw sending him next to Flynn on the other side of the room.

“Get up, you stupid animal! Get up and fight!” Flynn growled and pressed a grey button insistently. Ranjiv roared and contorted in the ground clearly in pain but stood on his four legs shakily.

_'How can that be possible? That tiger can barely move!'_ Don thought but was distracted by Sourja’s roar. The tiger with the black collar had managed to hit his brothers and now Ranjiv was back in action cornering them next to Leo, they could just wait for the worse to happen.  Or maybe not?

“You could have escaped when I offered you the chance” Samuel snarled through gritted teeth. 

Mikey covered Leo’s body with his own while Raph stood protectively in front of both his brothers; if they were going to be eaten, he was  _not_ going to make it easy for the tigers.

"Now, my lovelies will have plenty of meat now!” Flynn knelt in order to grab the remote but he just couldn’t found it. “What the… where’s…”

“Hey Fynn! Looking for this?”  The human lifted his head and saw a smiling Donatello with a black remote on his hands. “Donatello, don't be a stupid lad and give me that remote!” 

Don snorted. “Or what? Your tigers are with me now; you can’t touch me or my brothers anymore”

“Whatever! I do not need a stupid remote. I trained those tigers since they were cubs! Ranjiv, Sourja!” Flynn called his ‘pets’ but they wouldn’t move. The tigers that once had attacked the turtles were now standing at both Donatello’s sides.

“Poor and naïve Flynn” Don sighed, a very uncharacteristic and scary smile was on his face as he talked. “Animal intelligence is quite hard to understand, especially when you’re just a human”

Flynn's face reflected his shock with a hint of fear. “I… I do not understand. They were supposed to obey _me_ and only me!” 

“You trained them to obey… _the remote_ , Flynn” Don explained. “They will listen and obey to whoever has it. You should have used better methods”

Samuel growled and charged at the genius turtle but the latter gently pressed a yellow button, the subtle buzz being enough to command Sourja to do Don's biding, slashing the man’s leg in the process. 

“Mikey, you and Raph help Leo. The truck is not so far from here” Don indicated.

Said turtle untied Leo and grabbed his katanas from the ground while Raph picked Leo bridal style, the latter yelped in pain at the sudden move. “Careful with his arm, it’s broken”

“So, this one controls Ranjiv and the other controls Sourja…” Don said thoughtfully. “I wonder how many tricks you taught them”

Samuel laughed. “If you think your mind tricks will work on me, you are very mistaken, freak!”

“Don’t mind if I try, then?” With this, Don pressed the gray button and Ranjiv pounced on Samuel pinning with his strong paw almost chocking him.

“Hey Don, Leo’s gonna need a doc. Mind if I take care of… our friend?” Raph smirked evilly.

“Not at all” Don gave him the remote and picked Leo from Raph’s arms. "Leave some for me, I'll be right back"

With the tigers on their side, Don and Mikey could take Leonardo to the hauler and once inside the youngest brothers talked comfortingly at Leo while cleaning his wounds. The leader moaned in pain and let out little screams when the alcohol soaked rag touched his skin.

“I think we’ll have to sedate him. He’s suffered enough” Don suggested.

“But what about the poison?” Mikey asked.  

“How much tea did he drink?” 

“Two cups…I should’ve known Flynn was planning something like this. Leo saw it coming and I…” 

“It wasn’t your fault” Don soothed him “Listen, why don’t you go get Raph so we can go back home? I’ll take care of Leo” 

The nunchuck wielder looked at his brother reluctantly. He would've preferred to stay but the guilt was eating him alive. Maybe blowing off some steam on the man responsible for this would help him, maybe not. Either way, it was better than staying with Leo doing nothing, just getting on Don's way.

Mikey sighed and left his genius brother to take care of their leader. He had business elsewhere. 

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile, in the greenhouse, blood oozed from the wounds Raph and the tigers had inflicted on Flynn.  From time to time Raph used his sai, slashing and piercing the man’s skin agonizingly slow or punched him breathless and when he got tired -or at least he pretended to be- while Ranjiv and Sourja ‘played’ with Flynn like he was a piñate stuffed with catnip and wet food. Samuel was now experimenting Raphael’s rage in his purest state, the maximum level… his murderer side. 

“Three months… three fucking months worrying the shit outta our shells because of our missing brothers” Raph growled pacing around the beaten body. “Our father almost died and my brother almost went mad and never slept!”

With a hard punch on Samuel’s stomach, Raph sent him to his knees gasping. Damn, he was enjoying this; it felt even better than his sand bag.

“What, ya tired already? I’m just getting warmed up” Raph chuckled and pressed the grey button. 

Ranjiv pounced over Flynn and bit his arm hard enough to make him scream; he pressed the button again and the tiger released the man. Then, the sai wielder noticed Flynn’s cane and grabbed it but not after taking Samuel by his neck, chocking him a little.

“You see this? Do you see it, ya piece of shit?!"

The tip of Flynn's care, the one holding Mikey's eye like a trophy, was pressed against his own eye so hard Samuel believed Raph was going to cave it in. He felt himself being pushed to the ground and could see Raphael pulling out a bloodied sai and keeping it over the human's face. 

"You dared to disfigure my baby brother…and I’m about to make it even, motherfucker” 

“Raph?” Mikey’s voice came from behind but Raphael ignored it. This had to be done, his brothers had to be avenged.  

“Raph, what are you-”

“-I know what I’m doing, Mikey! Just don’t look” Raph said to his brother and turned back to Flynn. “Ever heard of ‘an eye for an eye’?”

“T-taking my eye...  will not... b-bring Michelangelo’s back” Samuel sputtered. 

Raph chuckled darkly and grinned. “Your ... _eye_? Who says I’m just taking _one_?”  Flynn’s smile faded when reality hit him. Raphael was about to blind him, he would plunge the sai into his eyes till there was nothing left of them. 

“Mikey, don’t look. This is gonna get messy” Raph warned and prepared himself for the first hit but another hand stopped him.

“We’re not like him… don’t do it, please”

“After all he did to you and Leo, you want me to let him go just like that? What the fuck is wrong with you?! Leo’s dying, you’re half blind and it’s this fucking bastard’s fault!” 

“I don’t care! Taking revenge on him won’t change things. Whatever he did to us, I don’t care now. We’re free and Donnie will take care of Leo with our help”

Raph pushed him away and raised his sai only to be stopped once again. "FOR FUCK'S SAKE, MIKEY!"

“Please, Raphie… you’re better than this, you’re better than him!” 

He didn’t know how Mikey did it but that pleading voice had always an effect on him and even now he didn’t have both his eyes, that stare was piercing and spoke more than a hundred words. Letting out a long sigh, he placed the sai back to his belt and let go of Flynn but never taking his eyes off him.

“You’re lucky this kid is here” Raph muttered harshly and offered a hand to Mikey. “C’mon, we’re outta here. Maybe his _‘babies’_ will take care of him now”

The orange-clad turtle smiled at his brother and gladly accepted the help. It was impressive how Raph had controlled himself in the last minute; besides, he wasn’t going to let his brother’s hands stain with that maniac’s blood. Flynn didn’t deserve that honor. Once he got on his feet, he took a quick glance where Flynn’s body was supposed to be and gasped. “Raph, look out!”

Samuel laughed when he felt the small knife plunge into the flesh and felt the blood on his fingers; Raph’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of his brother standing in front of him with a blade stuck in his stomach. Immediately, rage took over leading him to send Flynn to ground and stab him repeatedly but not mortally, he had plans for Samuel. Pressing the remote’s buttons, he summoned Ranjiv and Sourja before destroying the device for good and picking his wounded brother.

As he ran to the exit, he could hear Samuel’s screams and the sound of bones crushed by powerful jaws.


	23. Chapter 23

“DON!”

Raphael’s voice alarmed Don, who had just finished stitching Leo’s largest wound, and made him run outside the hauler. “Raph? What…oh my- what happened to Mikey!”

“Flynn. The bastard wanted to stab me but stabbed Mikey instead” Raph explained placing his youngest brother very carefully in the mattress beside Leo.

“Hold him still” Don ordered. Raph held Mikey’s shoulders against the mattress, pressing gently with his both bloody hands while Donatello analyzed the wound.

Despite being in pain, Mikey tried to play it cool. “I-Is it… bad? It... i-itches a little bit... b-but I don't think... it's that bad” 

“You’re lucky the knife is small, otherwise it _would_ have pierced your stomach. Take deep breaths, everything will be fine”

Mikey nodded and tried his best to follow Don’s order. The genius turtle quickly grabbed some gauze and made a compress around the knife, blood soon began to soak the white cloth; Mikey let out a yelp when he felt the movement around the knife. 

“Raph, keep pressure on the padding; this will be quick” Don instructed and started to pull out the knife carefully. Raphael felt a little sick when Mikey’s blood began to ooze staining his fingers and mixing with Samuel’s already dry blood on his hands. After a few seconds, the knife was out and with no complications or severe bleeding.

“How are you feeling Mikey?” Don asked while cleaning the wound.

“I’m fine dude; seriously, this is nothing compared to what happened to Leo” Mikey smiled weakly while looking at his eldest brother who laid still in the mattress, almost lifeless.

“Raph, do you think you can drive? I need to check Mikey’s wounds”

“Yeah, don’t worry” With this, Raph took his place in the driver seat and started engines “By the way, what are you planning to do with Leo?” 

“I might need to sedate him” Don said. “He won’t last conscious for much longer, after all, with all those wounds and lost blood As for the poison, I don’t think the amount Flynn gave him was mortal. Besides, Leo threw up most of it; his stomach might be upset for a while but that’s easy to fix. But he’s very lucky to be alive”

Raph smiled half-heartedly. “Well, he’s Leo after all”

“Still, I don’t think the sedative is a good idea” Mikey insisted.  

“I know but we don’t have much of a choice. Either we sedate him and stop his pain for a few hours or we leave him there suffering”

“Don knows what he’s doin’, k Mikey?” Raph interfered “Let him sedate Leo; it’ll be better for him”

Mikey sighed in resignation. “Alright”

Don prepared the needle and gently lifted Leo’s arm. He found the vein immediately and injected the eldest turtle who fell asleep right away. A couple of hours later, the turtles were back on the road. Leo and Mikey were sleeping, though Leo’s sleep was induced. Their wounds had been tended and patched, at least most of them; Raphael had refused any medical treatment until they arrived home, he wanted to get out of that place as quick as possible and make sure his brothers we’re fine. Especially Leo.

Neither Don nor Raph had said a word yet; both of them were mentally and emotionally worn out and the fact that the gruesome memories, they would now carry with them forever, were still fresh in their minds added even more stress. The last thing Raphael would always remember was Flynn’s screams while the tigers devoured him alive.

He didn’t want to sound like a sadist but deep inside, he would always smile at that memory.

“What happened to Flynn?” Don said all of the sudden.

“Tigers were hungry but their daddy took care of it already”

 Don shuddered understanding what Raph meant to say. “Horrible death…”

“It’s just fair” 

“Guys? Is breakfast ready?” The voice of a very drowsy Mikey joined the conversation.

Raph chuckled as he saw through the rear-view mirror at his youngest brother trying to stay awake “Hey there buddy”

Mikey yawned. “Hi Raphie… Where are we?” 

“The BattleShell… we’re going home now” 

“What happened to Flynn?”

“He’s dead” Don answered swiftly. He didn’t want Raph telling him the details yet. “Mikey, you should be sleeping. We’ll be home in 10 hours, more or less. You could use some rest”

There was silence again. Don and Raph thought Mikey had probably fallen asleep again so they didn’t bother to keep the conversation going.

“Raphie?” Mikey’s voice was heard once again. 

“What”

“About Flynn… you didn’t kill him, right?”

Raph sighed. Oh, how he wished he would've had the pleasure.“No knucklehead, I didn’t”

The sai wielder smiled genuinely when he heard the sigh of relief coming from Michelangelo. He understood why his brother had stopped him, he really did. They were honorable ninjas, not cold blooded assassins like Flynn was and Mikey would never live in peace if he knew one of his brothers had killed Samuel.

“Mikey, go to sleep now. We have a long way to go before we arrive to New York” Don repeated himself. 

“But I’m not sleepy!” Mikey whined.

“Either you go to sleep or I’ll sedate you! Or I could make Raph hit you a little” Don threatened. "Would you like that? A bit of Raphie's love?" 

“HEY! I almost died, remember? You don't get to threaten me!”

“That's it, you two. Mikey, you get some sleep. Don, you say that shit about 'Raphie's love' again and I'll tear ya a new one”

Mikey huffed and lied back down. “Fine… but I’m gonna whine the whole way home”

 

* * *

“So, how long did you say he lasted?”

“Less than two minutes” Don answered after checking on Mikey who slept soundly. Raph chuckled, he knew Mikey wasn’t going to last longer than that; he was way too tired after all.

Don yawned loudly. “How long till we arrive home?”

“Four hours”

“Good thing you didn’t take the highway”

Raph snorted. “Well, duh! Should’ve thought of that earlier, though”

“A truck full of weapons and two mutant turtles inside, driving off the highway in the middle of the day would’ve been a bad idea” Don reminded him.

“You just had to ruin my fantasy, didn’t you?”

“Oh c’mon, you know I’m right”

“You do realize you just sounded like Leo, right? All smug and know-it-all like?”

 Don crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever, you know I’m right”

The red-clad ninja looked at Leo’s limp form through the rear-view mirror. “Don, between you and me… will Leo make it?"

The genius sighed. “I’m going to be honest with you: his condition is deplorable. He’s lost a lot of blood, his right arm is broken; he’s dehydrated and apparently he hadn’t been eating properly during the three months he was captive”

“But Mikey was also captive with him and he looks pretty well to me. Except for his eye” Raph replied.

“I believe Leo did what he does best: he sacrificed himself in order to keep Mikey alive”

“Damn Fearless, always being the fucking hero”

“We all would’ve done it if we were in his place, Raph” Don pointed out. Raph didn’t reply back, his brother was right.  “Oh, and I almost forgot the fact that he was poisoned” The genius added.

“You said we didn’t have to worry about that”

“I know but I still need to keep an eye on him. I don’t know much about this kind of poison, just the ones Splinter taught us about in case The Foot started to use poisoned arrows against us” Don explained.

“So he’s still in danger, so to speak?”

Don shrugged. “Not really… or at least I don’t want to think of that”

“What about Mikey’s eye?”

“The stitching looks good. I can almost say it was made by a doctor because of the technique applied and for how clean it is”

“Is there a way to replace his eye?” Raph asked hopeful.

“With a glass eye, it’ll look fine esthetically. But those ones are expensive and that kind of procedures are strictly performed by doctors… and I’m not one”

“But you’re great with all that medicine crap!” Raph replied. "You can stick bones back into our legs, don't tell me sticking a glass ball into Mikey's skull ain't gonna be a piece of cake"

“This is different, Raph. This is way different” Don said sadly.

The latter sighed loudly. “Fuck, why did it have to be him?!”

“It could’ve been worse; that maniac could’ve blinded him… yet he didn’t do that. He had lots of luck”

“Rotten luck, if you ask me” Raph retorted growling a little.

“Let’s just not think of that, ok? I want to have some hours of peace before we arrive home and face reality again”

“Sure. You wanna go with Mikey and Leo? You’d be more comfy in the mattress” Raph suggested.

“Nah, I’ll stay here. You’re going to need company; Mikey and Leo have each other already”

Raph smiled his thanks and focused on the road again. While his brothers slept, the red-clad ninja prayed silently to whatever deity that would listen to him for the life of his brothers.

“You guys are strong but please hold on a little longer. We’re almost home… and your nightmare will be over”


	24. Chapter 24

The trip had been extenuating for everyone but the turtles had finally arrived to New York. Donatello had already communicated with Leatherhead announcing they were close.

The ninjas arrived to the lair with the last ray of sun; Michelangelo got out of the hauler with April’s help who led him to the infirmary immediately. Casey and Raphael carried Leo’s unconscious body to the infirmary as well where Leatherhead waited for his patients; Splinter was indicated to stay away from the infirmary, for Leo’s wounds were too bad to be seen and the rat’s old heart could not be able to bear it. 

After a quick examination, Leatherhead revealed Mikey was stable and not as hurt as his eldest brother but he was a little exhausted; he’d need minor stitching and a few shots just in case of infection. Since his left eye was missing and there was no ocular prosthesis available at the moment, LH decided the lid would be stitched closed and covered by a patch Mikey would wear under his bandanna. In Leo’s case, the procedure would have to be extremely different: due his precarious condition, he’d need blood, an I.V, antibiotics, pain medication, cleaning and re-wrapping of his wounds, more stitches, vitamins and a cast.

But what Don needed to do first was a blood test; he wanted to be 100% sure the poison given to Leo was out of his system before he could proceed with the medication.

“Apparently, there is no trace of poison in Leonardo’s bloodstream" LH informed.  "But we will need to perform a gastric lavage just in case there is a minuscule amount of the toxin left in Leonardo’s stomach” 

“Alright; I just finished re-wrapping his wounds and the stitches look fine. He won’t be losing more blood… well, not more than he’s already lost” 

“I ain’t no doctor but I think that calls for a transfusion” Raph said. 

Leatherhead nodded. "You are correct, my friend"

“Well, I ain’t got all day so you better get started” Raph said while he sat in the mattress next Leo’s.

“Raph, the only one compatible with Leo’s blood is Mikey but I don’t think he’ll be able to do it due his condition”

“That’s not true!” The youngest voice came from the doorway. “I want to do this! Leo kept me alive all those three months and I’m not gonna stay here on me butt seeing him die when I know I can save him”

“I know you want to help but we can’t risk putting you on danger” Don replied.

“And let Leo die instead?!” Mikey replied back.

“He won’t die!”

“How are you so sure of that?! I can make more blood soon but Leo’s too weak for that!”

“Mikey, keep it down! Sensei and the others just fell asleep and you should be doing the same!” Don said getting irritated by his brother’s stubbornness. “Now go back to your room and stay there!”

“You can’t make me!” Mikey yelling, stepping inside the room. “I don’t give a damn about me; I just lost a _fucking_ eye but Leo here is dying! Do you _really_   want him to _die_?!”

“Get the hell out of here _now_! And you better get some sleep or I’ll have to sedate you. You got that, stupid moron?! Or should I draw a picture for you to make it clear!”

The youngest stepped back a stared at his purple-clad brother in shock; sure he had heard such words before from Raph sometimes and they meant nothing but this time every single word felt like a stab. Did he have just treated him like a ‘ _retard’_? _Donatello_ of all turtles?!

“S _hut the fuck up,_ you asshole! You try to drug him and I’ll make you regret it!”

The genius turtle stumbled back as Raphael pushed him roughly while he walked towards Michelangelo who was standing there, like he was petrified, staring at Donatello. The dark green turtle noticed the moist in Mikey’s eyes but also fear; either he was afraid of losing Leo or he was getting afraid of Don and his lack of patience. He couldn’t tolerate that look on Mikey’s face and how Don had treated him when the youngest only wanted to help. 

Raph guided Mikey to his room where Klunk waited lying in the bed; he gently picked up the orange tabby and placed him on a cushion near Mikey’s bed, such action was not unnoticed by Mikey who smiled at this rare display of gentleness from his short tempered brother. The youngest offered no resistance when Raph made him lay down and cover him with a thick blanket.

“Rest easy Mikey, this ain’t gonna be your fault or Don’s; it was all Flynn’s deed” Raph said reassuringly “And don’t worry about Fearless; he’s too stubborn to die”

The orange-clad ninja sighed and hugged the pillow tightly. “I hope so”

 

* * *

Back in the lab, Don had calmed down a little and still couldn’t believe he had spoken to Mikey that way. After months of searching he had his baby brother back and this is how he treated him? Yelling at him and calling him stupid? What kind of idiot was he? The only sound in the room came from the cardiac monitor Leatherhead had lent him to check Leonardo’s heart rate which at the moment was agonizingly weak.

The genius ran a palm across his face and sighed loudly, a gesture he made when something annoyed him. “Sorry you had to see that, LH”

Leatherhead shook his head and offered an understanding gaze at the distressed turtle. “It is quite alright, my friend. But I believe you will have to take Michelangelo’s offer”

Don looked at the croc quizzically. “Why?”

“The poison may have been eradicated from his body but it has already caused a lot of damage in Leonardo’s system. The effects of the oleander’s leaves ingestion cause both cardiac and gastrointestinal signs and symptoms. The main toxicprinciples are the glycosides, which induce cardiacarrhythmia and eventually death. The clinical picture usually starts with gastrointestinal signs:  nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain. Later, cardiovascular and neurological symptoms can occur. In severe cases, ectopic beats occur which may be followed by ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Central nervous system effects occur frequently and include ataxia, drowsiness, muscular tremors, seizures, coma and death”

When the croc finished talking, Don sat heavily in the bed next Leo’s with a shocked expression and a frown plastered on his face. He  _did_ remember Mikey telling him most of Leo’s symptoms in their way back to New York: the leader had already suffered from stomach ache, drowsiness and nausea, his breathing was uneven, his heart rate dropped and accelerated in an exaggerated way and now he wouldn’t wake up which made Donatello think he was now in a comatose state.   

“As you can see, Donatello, your brother’s body is unstable and his heart is too weak to provide him the amount of blood he will need. Leonardo will need all the help. I believe you know what that means”  Don sighed loudly. “Fine… I’ll get Mikey ready for the transfusion”

 

* * *

“You think he’ll be ok?”

Michelangelo made Raph snap out of the little trance he was into with his sudden question. The red-clad ninja kept thinking about Leo’s condition and how it was affecting Don’s sanity; if there was one thing that made the genius turn into a mildly-tough version of himself that was the impotence of not being able to use his brain and his abilities to save a brother, Leo in this case.

Raph sighed. “Well, LH said Leo’s condition was…”

“Not him. I was talking about Donnie” 

“Dunno but he shouldn’t have yelled at you” Raph stated firmly. “I’m gonna have a word with him later”

“He’s afraid, just like everyone here. I don’t blame him” Mikey replied while petting Klunk who had already woken up and jumped to Mikey’s bed, snuggling near his master.

A corner of Raph’s mouth lifted in a smile. “I’d never heard the lil’ fur ball purr so loud”

Mikey chuckled; the feline purring louder with every stroke, his whiskers tickling Mikey’s neck as he came to tuck his tiny head under his master’s chin. “He’s just happy to see his daddy back. Aren’t you Klunk? You happy? Yes you are~”

“Ok flea bag, enough playtime” Raph picked Klunk who meowed in protest. “You’ll have time for that later”

“Aww, he’s calling me. Can’t you hear the poor little thing?”

“Yes, now get some rest, kid. I’ll take care of Klunk” 

Just when he was about to leave the room with the cat still meowing on his arms, a very serious looking Donatello opened the door. “Wasn’t Mikey supposed to be resting?” 

“He’s in his bed, isn’t he?” 

Don sighed. “Nevermind; take him to the lab in 15 minutes. We’ll need his blood after all”

Raph forced out a laugh. “Just like that, huh? You treat Mikey like shit and now you expect him to get his shell down so you can-”

"-I didn’t come here to argue with you. Just bring Mikey to the lab” Don cut him off abruptly causing the sai wielder to growl in anger and step closer to him with his fists ready. It was Mikey’s intervention that saved the genius from getting a black eye or something even worse. 

“Raph, it’s ok. We can’t waste more time… Leo needs this”  Even with one eye, Michelangelo had captured a perfect determination look and reflected it marvelously making Raphael lower his guard. 

“You sure you feel up to it?” 

“Hundred percent” Mikey said with a brightful smile and left the room.  

Donatello followed his youngest brother closely until a hard grip on his shoulder made him stop and he felt how he was being turned around roughly and suddenly, he found himself staring at Raphael’s angry amber eyes. “If you think Fearless lectures are a pain you better get ready for mine; those ones come with an extra ass whopping!”   

“Puh-leeease~” Don slapped Raph’s hand away. “You’re going to need something better than that if you want to scare me”  

“Guys, you can kill each other later. First things first!” The youngest yelled from the lab; again, Mikey’s intervention was Don’s salvation.

Raph looked at the bo wielder as he disappeared inside the room in less than a blink. 

 

* * *

 

That night Don stayed locked in the lab with Leonardo checking his progress; the fact that it was a good way of avoiding a very pissed off Raphael made the task even better.

After the transfusion, Mikey had passed out and paled a little but his breathing and heart rate was normal. Raphael decided to stay with him till he woke up which, luckily, would be in the morning. The eldest, sadly, wasn’t doing any better and that worried everyone; even with 2 pints of blood, a gastric lavage and the I. V with all the vitamins and supplements included, Leonardo didn’t seem to show any improvement. Although Don knew they couldn’t do more for the eldest turtle for now, he didn’t stop searching possible solutions, related diagnoses and medical histories about the subject.

There was another thing that bothered the genius turtle: psychological damage.  For now, Michelangelo slept peacefully but soon he would start having nightmares and panic attacks, and that was just Mikey. Don didn’t want to think about how much Leo would be affected since he suffered more torture as Mikey had told him. Probably, Leo’s worst torture was to see his baby brother lose his eye and Leo would probably blame himself; other than that, he had only been physically wounded and everyone knew the only way to torture him was to hurt his family otherwise he wouldn’t break down no matter how hard the torture was. 

Leonardo’s steady breathing calmed Don’s nerves a little bit; his brother was alive, still fighting, but alive. The genius truly believed his eldest brother would wake up soon but he couldn’t help but ask to himself: what if Flynn had managed to find a way to break Leonardo’s body and spirit all at once? Shredder had almost done it in the past but with his family’s help Leo returned stronger and determinate to fight once again.  

 _'Well, maybe Shredder didn’t succeed… but what if Flynn did? What if he did manage to break Leo?' T_ he purple-clad ninja tried to not think of such grim thoughts and pulled a chair next to Leo’s bed.

“Please Leo, if you can hear me… please, please wake up. I know you can do it. Just…” Don took a deep breath and fought the sudden pain on his tightening throat. “… wake up… please…” 

With a last look at his brother’s bandaged body, Donatello fell asleep; his head resting on Leo’s bed and his hand holding the eldest’s one.

Outside, a pair of red masked amber eyes watched the scene; Michelangelo was right: Don was _scared_ of losing his eldest brother… just like himself… though he would never admit it out loud. Raphael took a quick glance at Leo’s unconscious form before going upstairs and join Mikey in his sleep. Perhaps things would be better in the morning.

Would they?


	25. Chapter 25

The smell of fried eggs and bacon reached Raphael’s nostrils and made his stomach growl which, successively, obligated him to wake up.

The first thing he felt was the numbing pain in his neck; he shouldn’t had slept that way in the first place, Mikey’s bed was big enough for two turtles but he preferred to rest in a chair while he watched over his brother. Raph rubbed the aching area hoping that would soothe the pain, he yawned lazily, stretched his arms and legs and rubbed his eyes. It was then when he noticed the bed beside him was empty and the smell from downstairs became stronger and he could swear he had heard someone humming a song. He knew there was only one turtle who was always cheery while cooking so early in the morning and the thought alone was starting to make him mad.

What in world was his brother thinking? He was supposed to be in bed resting while he or Splinter or Don took care of breakfast.

Raphael was going to make sure his youngest sibling got back to his bed before Donatello knew one of his patients wasn’t resting. He didn’t want the genius bitching at Michelangelo again, he would just not be able to bear it without punching the life out of Don first. But the last night’s image of his genius brother talking to an unconscious Leo, his tearful eyes and shaky voice pleading for the eldest to be alive; those images had opened Raphael’s eyes and made him understand why Don reacted the way he did towards Mikey.

People do and say stupid things while they’re under stress or unbearable pressure, Raphael knew that very well; _he_ was a good example of that statement. After sighing for the third time now, the sai wielder stood up and walked downstairs, a plan starting to formulate in his mind: first, he would get Mikey back to bed. Second, he’d look for Donatello and try to solve their differences in the best way possible; that’s what Leo would’ve done if he was awake.

“Morning Raphie-boy!” Mikey greeted cheerfully. 

“You’re supposed to be resting, not cooking” Raph said, sounding mildly annoyed. 

“Well I was hungry and I thought: since I’ m here and making breakfast for one… why not make breakfast for everyone! And I even made your favorite, Raphie, since you were such a good brother taking care of me last night”

“That’s… very nice, Mikey. But you know Don could get your shell… no, wait… he could get _MY_ shell if he sees you doing this”

“Oops, I’m sorry~” Mikey smiled sheepishly.

The sai wielder walked towards his sibling and gently guided him out of the room. “C’mon, let’s get you back to bed”

“Hey, I still haven’t eaten!” Mikey protested making Raph chuckle.

“I’ll take your food upstairs, just go already”

The youngest turtle complied the order reluctantly but now he was away from the kitchen and on his way to the bedroom. Raphael put Mikey’s plate with the scrambled eggs and bacon on a tray just the way his baby brother liked it. Raph was just leaving the room when a very tired Donatello intercepted him by accident in the kitchen’s doorway.

“Coming for breakfast, Don?” Raph asked. The genius avoided his brother’s gaze and continued his way to the coffeemaker 

“Just coffee” 

Raph placed the tray back on the table and followed Don who was too tired to struggle when his brother guided him towards a chair and made him sit down. In a matter of seconds, Raph placed a plate with still warm food and the freshly made coffee in front of Don who looked at him tiredly but in puzzlement at the same time.

“If you’re gonna stay locked inside the lab watching your patient the whole night, you might as well eat something”

“You did this?” The genius asked, feeling more awake now he had drunk his coffee.

Raph thought his answer for a moment before answering with a small grin. “Let’s say that”

“Mikey was here, wasn’t he?”

Raphael’s silence was enough answer for Don; the bo wielder just rolled his eyes. “Figures” he grabbed his mug of steaming hot coffee and left the table.

“Don… you know we still gotta talk”

"I have to get back to Leo” Don replied shortly. The red-clad ninja followed his brother and grabbed him by a shoulder making Don tense up immediately. “Raph, I’m not in the mood for a fight so-”

“-and neither am I, Don. I just wanna talk; honest”

The purple-clad ninja remained quiet for a moment before he decided to return to his chair facing Raphael who looked at lot calmer than last night.

“Look, what happened yesterday… I think we were both being shitheads, you know? We kinda got carried away by the stress of the situation which led us to act like complete assholes” 

Don blinked. “O…k? Curses aside, I think I got your point perfectly and you’re right, we got carried away but that’s not excuse for what I said to you and Mikey”

“Hey, no biggie”

“ _Yes_ biggie, Raph. We just got Mikey back and relatively safe and what did I do? Treat him like he was a piece of trash! What kind of brother I am!”

“Well, he sure doesn’t seem to be mad at you I gotta say”

"Mikey’s never mad at anyone”

“True, true but my point is-”

“- don’t try to tell me to chill out and forget everything because I won’t” The genius turtle replied. “I shouldn’t have yelled at Mikey and yes, I was a complete asshole. Now if you could forgive me for being so brash, I’d be more than happy but if you still want to use me as punching bag…” 

The red-clad ninja laughed at his brother’s statement. “If I still wanted you to be my punching bag, we wouldn’t be here talking in the first place” 

Donatello allowed himself to smile shyly too; he knew he was forgiven but there was still one more thing to do to get rid of the annoying guilt. “I have to talk to Mikey; I have to let him now I didn’t mean anything I said”

“I already know that, dude” Another voice came from the kitchen’s entrance. 

Raph was surprised to see Mikey there; he was also a little angry at his baby brother for disobeying him but he didn’t have time for a remark, Mikey was already sitting beside Don who had his apology more than ready.

“Mikey, what happened yesterday… I’m so embarrassed and…” Don didn’t had time to finish; Mikey had already pulled him into a tight hug.

“Dude, it’s ok. You were worried and stressed, I understand why you reacted like that”

“Still, I’m sorry”

“All forgiven” Mikey slightly noogied the genius, the latter chuckled and returned the gesture. Raphael could rest easy now his family was at peace again; they could worry about other things now they were together, like when was their leader going to wake up. And speaking of him… 

“How’s Leo doing?” 

“The meds are doing its job quickly, his breathing is a little erratic so we had to use the oxygen tank just in case; his heartbeats are normal and his wounds are not infected but he hasn’t woken up yet” 

“Can I see him?” Mikey asked.

Don nodded. “Sure but after that you have to go back to your bed”

 

* * *

Leatherhead, Casey, April and Splinter had joined them a few minutes later after the three brothers’ small talk. They all enjoyed breakfast but held their questions about Mikey and Leo’s captive time, there would always another time for asking those questions. Now, they just tried to be positive and talk about other things… some of them silly, some of them important. Right after breakfast, Casey and April went out to buy medicines for Leo and Mikey among other things; April would have stayed in the lair helping Leo if it wasn’t because of Casey’s lack of knowledge when it came to buy special medical supplies, only thing he could get right was the name of certain painkillers. 

As promised, Donatello took Michelangelo to the lab/infirmary to see Leonardo who remained as still as a corpse except he was alive… or at least breathing.

“He looks healthy enough to me” Mikey said. 

“Apparently, he looks good. But as LH said: intoxication with oleander leaves causes a lot of damage” 

“Has Master Splinter seen him yet?” Raph asked, remembering the only one who had not seen Leo was their father.

“Now that you mention it, I think it’s ok to let him see Leo now” Mikey added.

“I’ll go for him and you Mikey, to your room. Now!” Don ordered.

Mikey whined. “Aww man! You’re starting to sound like Leo already” 

While Raphael dragged the youngest towards his room, Donatello went to his father’s chambers. He wasn’t really sure if Splinter should see Leonardo right now; after all, his brother was still unconscious and covered in bandages looking almost like a mummy but he was relatively more decent than yesterday when he was nothing but a mess of blood and cuts everywhere.

“Sensei, it’s me: Don. May I have a word with you?”

“Good morning, my son. Please enter” Splinter said. Donatello could feel a bit of tiredness in the old rat’s voice which was confirmed when the genius entered into the room and knelt in front of his father noticing that, in fact, Splinter looked awfully tired.

“You look sleepless, Master. Did you have enough rest last night?”

“I would be lying if I say yes, my son. I am very worried about your brothers’ condition” Splinter said.

“Well, I have some good news” Don said trying to sound positive. “Mikey is awake, his stitching on his eye is healing nicely and Leo is reacting favorably to the medicines LH and I have been giving to him”

Splinter smiled. “Those are certainly great news, Donatello”

“However, Leo hasn’t regained conscious yet” Don proceeded “But I think it’s part of the healing process. The poison weakened his system and affected his breathing and heart rate in great part”

“Will he recuperate from such damage?” Splinter asked in concern.

Don nodded. “With time, yes”

“Excellent. Thank you for keeping me informed, my son”

“Sensei, yesterday when we brought Leo, we didn’t allow you to see him because of the extension of his wounds but now he’s… presentable… do you wish to see him?”

“Certainly, I would” Both father and son left the room and made their way to the lab.

Leatherhead had just finished changing Leo’s bandages when Splinter arrived with Donatello right behind him. The old rodent’s ears dropped in sadness when he saw his eldest son for the first time after 3 months and how terrible was his actual condition; not as terrible as the moment he arrived to the lab but it was still shocking to see him lying there, with a lot of bandages, a cast, the oxygen mask, the IV and the needle marks on both his arms and if it wasn’t for the heart monitor’s constant beeping anyone could tell Leo was dead.

Splinter ran a paw over his son’s head, caressing it tenderly like he was afraid of hurting him further; he sighed and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and then exhaling. He thought he could reach his son’s spirit by make a connection with him using advanced meditation techniques but it was useless, his son was very weak and his soul almost unreachable but it was there, waiting for the right moment to return to the world of the living. Don just stood there and watched helplessly his father’s attempts to reanimate his brother o least establish a link with him.

If Splinter couldn’t do this then there was little hope Leonardo would wake up soon.

After the third try, Splinter gave up. He felt very tired already to keep trying but he would continue later. The rodent master asked once he opened his eyes.“How is Michelangelo?” 

“Let’s say he’s back to his annoying, happy-self” Don chuckled.

“Maybe too happy for my liking” Raph said from the doorway. None Splinter or Don had noticed when he had arrived but that didn’t matter now.

“I’m afraid that happiness will not last for long, my son” Splinter said sadly.

Don’s smile dropped. “I... I know. And I’m worried about that”

“Where is Michelangelo now?”

“His room, just tucked him in” Raph said.

“I will speak to him now; Donatello, tell him I want to see him in my chambers” Splinter said, his eyes never leaving Leo’s body. Don bowed respectfully before leaving.

Raphael didn’t know what to do now, he was just standing there looking how his father whispered some words to his unconscious brother, some of them in Japanese but very familiar to all of them; that had been the way Splinter talked to them back in the days when they were just kids, whenever they had a nightmare o were hurt. Raph could have sworn he had seen a couple of tears on his father’s cheeks; the red-clad ninja could comfort 2 distraught little brothers but what about his father? Splinter was supposed to be the strong pillar just like Leo but if this pillar wasn’t strong enough, they would all soon fall in despair and grief.

A strong dark green hand reached for Splinter’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I ain’t good with this sentimental crud sensei. I know what you’re feeling: impotence, anger, sadness- hell, I’m still angry that all that shit happened to my brothers!”

“Language, Raphael” Splinter glared at his son.

“What I’m trying to say is that Leo will get better, I just know it” Raph continued. “Don’t care if your meditation can’t reach him, he _will_ come back to us”

Splinter smiled warmly at his tough son’s attempts to make him feel better. Luckily, he had succeeded. “Raphael, you and your brother share the strongest bond of all, my son; that is the reason why you are so faithful to your beliefs and I also believe you. Leonardo has passed through harder tests before”

“Did you want to see me, sensei?” Mikey said as he arrived to the lab.

“Yes, come with me Michelangelo” Splinter gave a last look at Leonardo before making his way out of the room with Mikey. “Donatello, let me know when your brother awakes”

The youngest turtle followed his father in silence more than aware of what it was coming upon him. As much as he had vowed to himself not to show weakness in front of his family after those traumatizing three months, he knew he couldn’t fool Master Splinter.

Now it was time for a little father-son talk, one Michelangelo would have wished to avoid at all cost.

 


	26. Chapter 26

“Have you seen the bread?” Casey asked the red masked turtle as the latter casually walked inside the kitchen.

“It’s in the pantry” Raph indicated “Making a sandwich?”

“Trying to. I’m starving!”

“But you just had breakfast” Raph replied while taking a soda from the fridge.

“So what! I’ve been running from store to store the whole morning, I just got hungry again!”

Raph chuckled. “You’re such a fucking drama-queen”

The blue eyed man shrugged and after making his snack, he took a sit in the other side of the table. Raphael just stared at his soda absentmindedly; his mind wandering in between Leo’s actual state and his baby brother. Well, at least Mikey was with Splinter now; he would be alright but what about Leo?

“Hey Raph, I remember Donnie said Leo drank some poisoned tea but if he already had thrown up most of it… why he’s still unconscious?” Casey asked.

“I want to believe it’s because of his multiple wounds and the loss of blood” Raph answered. “But maybe it’s the same stuff when Shredder attacked him and we had to take him to the farmhouse”

“You mean his ‘self-blame’ trip?”

Raph shrugged. “Sorta”

“Why would he blame himself for this? I mean, I know Leo blames himself for almost everything in most of the cases but why now? It’s not like he knew this fucker was gonna abduct him and Mikey. Heck! You didn’t even know him in the first place!”

“Well, Mikey said Leo lost a fight against him and he was badly injured, needed medical attention and that son of a bitch wanted something in exchange so Mikey gave him his eye. I bet my shell Leo’s feeling guilty because of that”

Casey sighed. “Poor kid. Must’ve been a very traumatic experience; like being in one of his horror movies. Though it’s hard to believe it when he’s all smiling and being… well… Mikey”

“We all know he’s faking it. The smiling, the joking… he’s pretending and trying to forget by his own” Raph said. “That’s why sensei called him to have a talk and I have the feeling they’ll stay in that room for more than just 10 minutes”

Casey took another bite at his sandwich before leaving it in the plate. Suddenly he didn’t feel like eating anymore. “You think Splinter can fix him up?”

“Maybe he’ll never fix him permanently but at least Mikey won’t keep most of the pain inside”

“What about Leo? He can be as stubborn as you are, you know?”

“Gonna be a tough case for him to deal with, I gotta say” Raph frowned. "But maybe if he sees Mikey all ‘cured’ and ‘normal’ and not scared outta his shell, Fearless won’t be too reluctant to talk… or at least that’s what I’m expecting”

“That’s what we’re all expecting, tough guy”

* * *

The idea of going into his father’s room scared Michelangelo; he remembered being there mostly for lectures about his lack of focusing on training or when he had to be punished because of a prank that went horribly wrong and ended up hurting on of his brothers or even himself. This time, though, all those situations were nothing compared to what he was about to experience; Mikey was well aware his father was persistent and wouldn’t leave him alone, he would insist on asking about his time in captivity, he would try to heal his and his eldest brother’s shattered souls which wouldn’t be easy because the fun-loving turtle had been blocking those memories since the moment Raph and Don rescued him and Leo.  

Splinter, on the other hand, knew Michelangelo would break sooner or later; his nightmares, his horrible memories would become too terrifying to keep them inside and, eventually, he would talk. But he wasn’t going to sit and do nothing. Why wait for the worse to come when he could be able to help his son now!

The old rat opened the shoji door and walked over his mat behind a small wooden table; Mikey followed him and closed the door softly. There were some incense sticks and lots of candles around the room; Splinter never stopped using his trusted candles even though Donatello had conditioned his room with lamps to make his lecture easier. The paintings of Japanese landscapes and some scrolls with different kanji written on them, the trophies collected from the foes they had defeated… everything in that room felt unfamiliar now but ,then again, after three months of being locked in a small room even his own room looked weird.

 

“Please, sit down Michelangelo. We have matters to discuss” Splinter said signaling the mat in front of him.

“You should really ask April’s help for a total room makeover, sensei” Mikey said out of the blue. “I mean, 3 months and it still hasn’t changed? Heh, I was expecting something… you know… new!”

It was clearly noticeable Mikey was trying to avoid the so needed conversation but Splinter didn’t let his interruption make him forget about the main reason why he had summoned Michelangelo to his chambers. “I do believe something else changed or should I say: _someone_ ”

“Who, me? Pfff, nah” Mikey let out a fake chuckle. “Maybe my eyesight won’t be the same again but I’m still Mikey!”

“I am conscious both you and Leonardo have more than physical damage, my son. While Donatello took responsibility for the healing of yours and your brother’s body, you must be very aware he is not capable of healing the damage in your mind, Michelangelo”  

“Sensei, I’m not having nightmares, really! Last night I slept like a baby, Raphie can tell you that. He was with me the whole time!” 

“Sooner or later, the memories of the time you remained captive will start to haunt you. It is my responsibility as your Master and father to free you from your pain before it is too late and it consumes you” Splinter said calmly.

“Sensei, I… I don’t really want to talk about that. I prefer forgetting everything and pretend it didn’t happen”

“The past hurts sometimes, Michelangelo. In order to progress and move on to a brighter future, we must face our memories with courage and this time, you will not face them alone my son. I will help you but only if you let me”

Mikey sighed loudly. “I don’t know, I just-”

“Do you not trust your father, my son?”

“Forgive me, Master Splinter, but that’s a stupid question. You know I trust you with my life!”

Splinter smiled warmly. “Then please, stop closing your mind let me help you”

The look on Splinter’s face was hard to avoid and made impossible for Mikey to deny his father’s request. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Your brothers weren’t very explanatory about Flynn. What can you tell me about him?” Splinter asked.

“He used to be a zoologist, a mad one” Mikey started. “He got arrested for all those inhuman experiments with animals but he was released for good behavior or something like that. He said before he was incarcerated he discovered about our existence and he was planning on capturing all of us but police caught him and he missed that opportunity”

“What exactly did he do to you and your brother in that facility you were trapped in?”

“They beat us and made us wear some collars like dogs and if we didn’t call him ‘master’ he’d electrocute us. Leo took most of the damage for me; I could tell, by the way he screamed, he had to be suffering a lot every time Flynn pressed the remote’s button”

Splinter hummed and brought a hand to his chin in a thoughtful gesture.  “Leonardo looks very emaciated indeed”

“Flynn never went easy on him. In fact, I think he wanted to kill Leo the moment he captured us but he didn’t do it just because he needed two specimens in perfect conditions and even though Leo’s revelry always ticked him off, he was Flynn’s ‘the perfect specimen’ but he was always beating  him, hurting and insulting him and…” Michelangelo stopped talking momentarily. Tears were threatening to fall but the orange clad turtle rubbed his eyes harshly.

Splinter’s brow furrowed with concern. “My son, we can stop now if you wish to”

“I called him master once” Mikey whispered and Splinter looked at him in confusion.

“Explain, my son”

Mikey’s glassy eyes met Splinter’s. “Leo was hurting so much, I had to stop him or else he would have fried his brain with all that voltage coming from his collar; I-I called that… b-bastard _‘master’_ …I… f-father, I-I…”

The youngest began to stutter and a few tears rolled down his cheeks; tears of shame for betraying his true and only Master, his father. Splinter gawked at his youngest son; his confession just proved Flynn had been truly a monster to obligate such innocent soul to go against his own will just to satisfy his sick mind. 

“I had to do it!” He screamed, bringing his hands to his face to cover it while he cried and sobbed shamelessly. “I didn’t want Leo to die, I needed him! I-I didn’t want to be alone in that place!”

Flashbacks of what had happened to both of them crossed through Mikey’s mind and before his eyes; it was like he was living his nightmare again… the torture, the beatings, his eye… the unexplainable pain! Splinter noticed Mikey had begun to shiver and his breathing became erratic. Perhaps he had pushed Michelangelo to his limits… perhaps he wasn’t ready to let it all out just yet. The old rat took a sit beside his son and managed to take his hands out of his half bandaged face.

“I... I-I wasn’t strong enough, f-father. I betrayed you”

“Do not say that, my son. Whatever you said to that monster did not come from your heart, Michelangelo; he forced you” Splinter pulled the trembling turtle close to him in a comforting embrace. The latter buried his face in his Master’s shoulder and cried even harder.

“You are strong, my son. Strong enough to suffer a mutilation in order to save your brother’s life, strong enough to stand in between your brother and two wild beast…”

Mikey looked up at Splinter with tears in his eyes. “How… how did you know about…”

“Raphael told me. What I need you to understand now is that you have not betrayed your sensei and your strength, that inner strength you possess, will help you confront your fears and not let them take your smile from you, my dear child”

Mikey repeated those words mentally as he reluctantly pulled away from the embrace. He was _not_ a traitor, he wasn’t weak… he haven’t failed his Master. “Thanks father. I… I think a little break would be nice”

“Very well” Splinter gently patted his son’s head. “I will make some tea, please stay here and focus on your breathing”

The old rat left the room, the last thing he saw Michelangelo closing his eyes and starting a meditation exercise. It would take a while to see him smiling again but Splinter wasn’t one to give up so easily. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Casey and Raphael waited expectantly for some news; it didn’t matter if they were from Mikey or Leo, they needed good news stat.

“Master Splinter, how’s Mikey?” Raph asked worriedly.

“I can only say I am glad I decided to not leave this talk for later. As I expected, Michelangelo has experienced a lot of pain and not only physical. We took a little recess but I must continue encouraging him to let out everything. It will be difficult but at least it will allow me to lessen Michelangelo’s pain and when the time to speak to Leonardo comes, I will be able to do the same” 

Just when Raph was about to ask more questions, Leatherhead rushed into the room.  “Master Splinter, my friends! Donatello requires your presence in the laboratory immediately” The croc said hurriedly. “I believe Leonardo is trying to regain consciousness!”


	27. Chapter 27

Donatello waited patiently for his eldest brother to finally open his eyes after days of waiting for a positive answer; the latter’s eyes fluttered but remained closed. Leo’s breathing and heart rate were considerably normal at this point and most of his wounds had begun to scar over; the active charcoal treatment had worked on absorbing any possible trace of the poison remaining in Leo’s stomach but as Leatherhead said, the poison could have already made considerable damage in Leonardo’s organism; however, Donatello didn’t want to think of any negative outcome, he just wanted Leo to wake up. The whole family gathered around the wounded turtle’s bed, waiting patiently; silence in that room could be cut with a knife, nobody dared to talk, blink or even breathe. They only stared at the blue-clad ninja’s fluttering eyes and waited. Don and Raph had taken possession of Leo’s hands and held them like a lifeline, Raphael’s grip being the tightest.

Splinter placed a paw on his son’s forehead and tried to establish a link with him; a tiny sparkle welcomed him, a very small part of his eldest son’s spirit, a weak and faint light was still there in the deepest part of Leonardo’s mind. The old rat could have cried of pure happiness after this discovery; his son was not totally lost, he could come back but this time he would need help.

 _“My son, please listen to me and follow my voice. Your family awaits for your return. Please come back to us”_ Splinter said mentally, focusing all his energy on his son’s broken soul trying to help him come out of the dark void of pain where his spirit rested.

The old rat knew he needed his other sons’ assistance in order to bring back Leonardo but he couldn’t stop focusing now; establishing the link had been really hard, one little distraction could break it and Splinter was not going to let that happen. Donatello and Raphael closed their eyes and, as if reading his father’s mind, they joined him in the astral plane or at least they tried. Despite all his efforts and all the meditation techniques they used to make connection with Leo’s mind, there was something that didn’t let them reach him; a strange and powerful dark force stopped them every time they got too close. Soon, both Raph and Don grew mentally tired and broke their links with his brother hoping Splinter would have better luck but hours were passing and dying and so were everyone’s expectations; Splinter had to break his link too, reluctantly.

Leonardo’s eyes had stopped fluttering; his breathing was still normal and so were the rest of his vital signs but the fact that he remained unconscious, however, was very disappointing.

“Maybe he was just having a dream” April said.

“Looked more like ‘nightmare’ to me” Raph replied. He stared at Leonardo in concern, still holding his hand expecting for a miracle to happen.

Suddenly, Raphael felt Leo’s fingers twitch as he tried to somehow squeeze his brother’s hand back. The red masked ninja’s gaze intensified over Leonardo’s motionless body while the fingers kept twitching; it was a small and barely noticeable movement but Raphael could feel it clearly. 

“Leo, can you hear me?” Raph said a bit loudly. Everyone turned their attention back to the wounded turtle. “C’mon bro, you gotta wake up”

Seeing this, Splinter placed his hand back on his son’s forehead and tried once again to establish a link with Leonardo. Again, that little spark welcomed the old rat for a brief moment before a terrible darkness began to consume it.

Then he saw it: a horrible creature that appeared to be a man fighting against Leonardo. His son looked just like his unconscious form, extremely pale and bandaged, with not enough strength to beat down that monster haunting his mind. Splinter jumped into the ‘battleground’, ready to assist his son but suddenly a wall began to build between the old sensei and his student. Leonardo gave him a cold glare, the glare he sent to everyone when he didn’t want to be helped; this confused Splinter. Was Leonardo refusing his help?

This small distraction was Leonardo’s spirit worst mistake ever; Splinter saw the monster holding Leonardo by his neck tightly, digging his claws into the tender flesh making him bleed profusely. The last thing the old rat could hear before the link broke was the heartbreaking scream of Leonardo’s tortured spirit.

Right after that an unmentionable pain took over Splinter’s own mind and soul, his whole body began to ache as he was surrounded by that darkness. The pain he experienced in the following 60 seconds was unbelievable: it was like nothing he had ever felt before; it tore his heart, his soul, his body; every limb and little joint in his body hurt; his head started to spin around over and over making him dizzy. When he opened his eyes, Splinter found himself lying in a bed next Leo’s, surrounded by his worried family… and also with an annoying headache.

“Master Splinter, are you alright?!” April asked worriedly.

“What happened?” The confused rat said holding his head.

“You passed out, father. Must have been because of exhaustion for trying to contact Leo too many times” Don explained.

“Hey, where’s Mikey?” Casey asked, noticing the orange masked turtle was missing.

“I think he’s still in Master Splinter’s room” Leatherhead said. “I will go for him” 

“Sensei, were you able to make a connection with Leo?” Raph asked. The negative gesture Splinter gave him was more than enough to make Raph’s blood boil in anger. “I don’t get it. We’ve done this before, we’ve talked to Leo while he was out cold and it worked! Why it didn’t work now?”

Splinter sighed and placed a paw on his red masked son’s shoulder. “My son, I am afraid to tell you that Leonardo blocked the spiritual link”

Everyone looked at Splinter with eyes wide open. “What?!” 

Don looked at his father, then back to his unconscious brother; he couldn’t believe Leo had done such thing. “Why would he do that?”

Splinter let his head hung in sadness. “Because he does not wish to be awaken”

* * *

Leatherhead knocked the door softly before entering into the old rat’s room. As it was expected, the youngest of the family was there, kneeling and apparently in deep meditation. Believing he was asleep, the big croc entered into the room and slowly shook Mike’s shoulder.  “Michelangelo?”

The orange masked turtle jumped a little at the sudden sight of his reptilian friend but calmed down quite rapidly. “Hi big guy, didn’t hear you coming”

“It is alright. Leonardo appears to be showing some improvement and he was also regaining consciousness”

“Wait, what do you mean _‘was’_?” Mikey asked in a voice full of concern and fear.

“Apparently Donatello and I mistook the signals Leonardo’s body sent and thought he was trying to wake up but perhaps it was only his mind recreating last events" 

“You mean like having a dream?” 

“Precisely”

Mikey shook his head, a sad smile made its way across his face. "It _was_ all my fault, LH. Leo never trusted Flynn and if I had listened to him instead of convincing him of letting his guard down maybe he would have never accepted Flynn’s tea”    

“My friend, it is not you who has to be blamed. That monster played his cards quite too well” Leatherhead said with a low growl.

Michelangelo sighed heavily and hung his head; his hands clenched into tight fists while he glared at a random spot in the floor.  “Why am I so stupid and naïve?”

The croc knelt in front of the shivering turtle and placed his big hands on Mikey’s shoulders. “Michelangelo, you are neither stupid nor naïve. You just happen to have a pure, innocent heart”

The orange masked ninja tilted his head to meet Leatherhead’s eyes. A warm and comforting smile welcomed him which made him smile as well in return. “Thanks LH”

“You’re welcome, my friend. Do you wish to see your brother?”

“Sure”

* * *

 

 

“Sensei, what do you mean he doesn’t want to wake up?!” Raphael asked, still shocked by his father’s words. Why Leo wouldn’t want to wake up? Didn’t he know his family was incredibly worried about him?

“As I feared, my sons, Leonardo’s guilt has grown stronger during all this time” Splinter said sadly.

“That’s bullshit!”

“Raphael!”

“You hear that, Fearless? All that stupid self blame thing is pure bullshit and you know it!” Raph snarled as he approached Leo’s bed.

“Enough Raph!” Don replied. “If you’re not going to control yourself I’ll have to ask you to leave this room!”

“What’s going on here?” Mikey’s voice came from the lab’s door way.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on. Your half dead brother here is being a pussy!”

“That’s it! Raph, get out of here now!” Don said angrily while pushing Raphael all the way towards the door.

“You can’t make me leave, you-”

“-c’mon Raph, that’s enough” Casey interfered. “Let’s go get you something to drink… beer alright with you?”

“Casey, I don't think this is the moment-” 

“Babe, I got this. Trust me” Casey said while he exited the lab. “You coming or what, tough guy?” Giving his brothers a last icy glare, Raphael left the room with his human friend. 

Michelangelo approached to Leonardo’s bed; his brother looked so lifeless it was depressing. “So it’s true. He won’t wake up”

“Master Splinter was trying to reach his spirit but Leo blocked him” Don said. “But on the other hand, most of his wounds have healed nicely and-”

“-I don’t care about that. He could be wrapped up like a mummy but what does it matter if he’s not awake” Mikey replied gloomily.

“He _will_ wake up, Mikey”

“How can you be so sure! He blocked Master Splinter… our father! What does that says to you?”

“Michelangelo, calm yourself. There is something else you all must know” Splinter started. “Before Leonardo blocked me, I could feel a small trace of his spirit but that is not all: another force has entered your brother’s mind… an intruder”

“You think that’s the reason why he’s blocking us?” Don asked.

“Perhaps. I will attempt to reach your brother again and help him fight this force but not now, I can not perform another connection. We should all rest…and Donatello, I suggest you to take a few hours to sleep. You have not rested properly”

Don sighed. “I’ll try, father”

Splinter, Donatello, Leatherhead and April began to leave the laboratory. However, the red haired woman noticed the orange masked ninja didn’t move from his spot next to Leonardo. She approached him carefully. “Mikey, I need to go out and buy groceries. Would you like to come with me?” 

Mikey shrugged. “I don’t know. Not really in the mood”

“C’mon, we can stop for ice cream!” She insisted more cheerfully, or at least trying to. “…or in a comic book store if you want!”

“Thanks April but…”

“But nothing, Michelangelo!” Splinter’s voice made Mikey and April jump in surprise. “I believe some hours in the outside world will help you clear your mind, my son. Please, accept Miss O’Neil’s invitation”

Mikey knew his father’s request wasn’t exactly that; it was a direct-indirect order and he just couldn’t say _‘no’_. April’s forced smile was another thing that stopped him from giving a negative answer; she was also suffering and even so, she was trying to help.

Sighing heavily, Mikey nodded. “I’ll go get ready”


	28. Chapter 28

As they drove to the grocery store April watched Mikey closely. He blankly stared at the nothingness the whole time not saying a word. That was definitely not like him at all, the Mikey she knew - _or at least used to know_ \- was never quiet, not for a second. Sometimes he would talk about the latest videogame he had played or the most recent _Justice Force_ ’s comic issue, sometimes he would talk nonsense like a little kid who just mixes a bunch of random events and puts them together in a single story. _That_ was the Mikey she was expecting to see; but here she was, driving to the store with a dark, gloomy and depressed version of Michelangelo.

The silence in the vehicle was extremely uncomfortable for the red haired woman, the only thing that made this trip a little more bearable was the typical sound of New York’s overpopulated streets full of cars and people going from place to place. When they finally reached the store, April pulled over in front of a park and took a deep breath before talking.

“Please tell me what’s troubling you. You haven’t said a word the whole ride here” April asked turning off the car.

He didn’t say a word, he just shook his head and got out of the car and making sure his disguise was in place. April exited the car as well still observing Mikey. “So… how about after we’re done shopping we go get some ice cream? And we could stop off for pizza too! We can get whatever toppings you want on it!” 

Mikey stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his face emotionless.  “Pizza? Seriously, that’s the best you could come up with?” He asked snidely.

“Hey, I’m trying to-”

“-just stop trying, ok?!” Came Mikey’s angry reply. “Enough with the chatting and let’s go do what we came here to do. The sooner we get back home, the better!” He said heading towards the store once more.

April stood there for a moment not sure what to do and then silently strode into the store after him. They got what they needed and headed back out, not a word had been spoken between them since their conversation outside. Since Mikey wasn’t exactly in the mood for anything, April decided to take the distressed turtle back home immediately; she felt disappointed with herself, she only wanted to help him believe there was still hope and things would be just fine very soon… but she had failed, epically.

But at least nobody could say she hadn’t tried, right?

Wrong.

She hadn’t tried hard enough, that was the first part of the problem, she was letting Mikey’s moodiness get her and make her feel miserable too. Well, one thing was for sure: April O’Neil was not going to surrender so easily. They finally pulled back into the turtles’ garage, it was time: Mikey would have to talk either he liked it or not. The young turtle was about to get out when suddenly all the car doors locked.

“April what the-”

“You are not getting out of this car until you tell me what’s wrong with you” She said leaning back in her seat.

“I told you nothing is wrong! Now, let me out!” Mikey said feeling a bit like the walls were starting to close in on him.

“Ever since you and Leo got back home I’m the only one who doesn’t know the real story of what happened and I need to know it all if I’m going to help you”

“I don’t need help! “Sensei already talked to me. I’ll be fine”

“Well, it seems to me that you didn’t tell him everything”

“How could _you_ know that?!”

“Michelangelo, you think you can hide your pain just like Leo does but I know you enough to know you can’t… and neither can Leo” April said firmly. “Whatever you need to let out of your chest, you let it out now!”

The intense stare April was giving to Mikey made him tense, he could feel the air around him getting harder to breathe; the young ninja had tried to open the door again and when it didn’t budge, he started to sweat cold. He had already been trapped once by someone and he didn’t want it to happen again.

Mikey turned back his gaze to April but in his nervous state, his mind began to play tricks with him and made him see Flynn and his sick and twisted grin instead of his red haired friend, the young ninja panicked and started breathing faster and faster. Mikey was shaking by now as thoughts of past events went through his mind like a horror film. The beatings, the horrific games, all those dead bodies, those gruesome memories floated through his mind. More than anything, he saw Leo’s unconscious form as he lay in a pool of his own blood with the maniacal Flynn standing over him grinning in delight.

April noticed his friend’s shaky hands and instantly regretted her actions; instead of making Mikey talk, she was terrorizing the already unstable teenager and that wasn’t exactly her plan. She quickly unlocked the doors which allowed Mikey to leave the car at lightning speed; once out, he rested his palms flat on the wall in front of him, his head bowed, his breathing still elaborated.

The red haired woman followed him and approached the young ninja slowly to not startle him or make him pass out from pure fear. Her soothing words calmed Michelangelo as she walked closer and closer to him; when she was just a couple of steps away from Mikey, she could hear he was mumbling something and his voice sounded shaky and broken.

“The pain just wouldn’t stop” He said, still shaking. April placed a hand on his shell and when Mikey didn’t shake it away, she knew it was better to stay quiet and let him talk. Taking a deep breath, he continued. “Day after day; Flynn came up with some new way to torture us. He liked to pick on me because he knew it would enrage Leo-”

Mikey had to stop to regain himself and slow his breathing once again. He felt April’s thumb graze his cheek and it was only then he realized that he was crying.

“It’s ok, sweetie. Let it all out” She encouraged him softly. Swallowing down the painful lump in his throat, Mikey continued.

“H-he took the brunt of everything Flynn would throw at us, trying desperately to keep me from getting hurt too much. That used up all the strength he had in him, and now- he has nothing left”

“Mike, Leo is a fighter… a warrior… we have seen him come back from worse. I’m sure he will lure whatever demon that’s chasing him and he will be back but only if you believe!”

“But you saw what happened. April! Leo blocked Master Splinter; he doesn’t want to be saved, he doesn’t want to wake up!”

“And with that attitude of yours, he never will!” The woman snapped at the distraught teenager making him wince and let more tears escape. April’s anger subsided at the sight of Mikey’s tears.

“Mikey, your must understand your brother did what he did because he loves you” April said using her softest voice. “And now Leo needs _you_ to save him!I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to come back because he thinks he failed _you_ ”

The freckled turtle couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could Leo believe such a thing! “But he saved me! He didn’t fail me or anyone in this family!”

“Yet he doesn’t think likewise” April said sadly.

“What if I fail? What if I can’t help him? What if I can’t save him?!”

Carefully, April turned Mikey around and pulled him close to her in a powerful embrace which Mikey returned immediately while he cried his heart out. “I know things are not looking good now but we have to keep up hope… for Leo” Reluctantly, she broke the embrace and cupped Mikey’s face in both her hands, making him stare into her green eyes.  “Can you make that last effort? Can you keep up hope for your brother?”

Sniffling loudly, Mikey nodded. Standing up was starting to be very difficult for the young teenager and suddenly he fell on his knees while he continued crying brokenheartedly. April couldn’t bear the sight before her eyes, seeing Mikey cry it was like seeing her own child cry. But she understood this is what Mikey needed; she stayed with him, hugging him and whispering comforting words until he calmed down enough to stand on his feet again.   

“You ready to go home now?”

“Could we… go for pizza and ice-cream now?” Mikey asked sheepishly. “All this crying made me hungry”

“That’s the Mikey I know and love” April chuckled. “Let’s get you that ice-cream; it’s still pretty early to go back home anyways”

* * *

After the little argument between Raph and Don back at the infirmary, things were pretty quiet back at the lair; Splinter had gone to bed for a repairing and well deserved nap, Leatherhead stayed with Leonardo checking his vital signs and administering medicines and vitamins while Donatello decided to follow his father’s advice and try to sleep, he had left his unconscious brother’s side reluctantly and made his way upstairs. Walking pass the kitchen, he could hear Casey and Raphael talking heatedly about what happened earlier, both with a can of cold beer in their hands. The purple-clad ninja grimaced at the sight of the hellish liquid; he still didn’t understand how his brother could tolerate the stuff but then again, he knew his brothers thought the same about the genius’ addiction to coffee.

Sighing, Donatello continued his way upstairs until he reached his bedroom; the genius’ sanctuary t felt so cold and unnatural and even the bed didn’t look inviting either, how could he get some rest in a place like this?

Don put his weapon against the wall, his shell-cell and gear inside a drawer and slumped tiredly in the mattress. He really didn’t feel like sleeping; he wished he had gone with Michelangelo and April. For once, he couldn’t stand this silence… it didn’t feel right; his father’s words echoed inside his mind, making him formulate tons of questions but the most important was: why would Leonardo refuse help, his _family_ ’s help?

All those thoughts made sleeping a very hard task for the resident genius; he grabbed his mask and pulled it roughly till it was hanging around his neck. He didn’t know for how long he had been lying there, staring at the ceiling… minutes… hours maybe…  but what he did know is that someone had irrupted into his room and it was no other than his hotheaded brother.

 

“Can’t sleep?” Raph asked casually.

“What gave it away?” Don asked back, still staring at the ceiling.

“Maybe those black birds nesting under your eyes?”

Donatello sighed in annoyance and turned around giving his brother a full view of his shell. “Go away. Don’t think I have forgotten your behavior back at the infirmary”

"I know and… well, I’m… I’m sorry, Donnie”

The genius chuckled half heartedly. “Whoa, you must be drunk already because you’re apologizing so easily”

“For your information, I didn’t drink a lot!” Raph replied. “Just a couple of beers and I ain’t even tipsy”

“Oh joy. Thanks for making me feel better”

Raph sighed heavily and walked towards his brother’s bed. “May I?”

The purple-clad ninja moved a little so his brother could sit beside him but didn’t turn around; the sai wielder laid against the soft pillow and stayed in silence, unsure of what to say. Even so, he needed to apologize. For his family, for himself… for Leo.

“You know… should try having a drink” Raph said, hoping his comment would start a small conversation.

“No thanks, I prefer having a bloodstream full of coffee instead of killing my liver with beer”

Raph let out a little laugh. “I… don’t think I understand your logic, bro”

“Have April and Mikey come back yet?” Don asked, ignoring Raphael’s statement.

“No, they must be still outside” The red-clad ninja answered. “Lucky Mikey; he might be having a great time outside while I have to deal with a grumpy genius”

The bo wielder swiftly turned around and sit down facing his brother, his brows furrowed in anger. “Well, if I’m such an annoyance then leave me alone! I didn’t ask you to come here and stay! If you didn’t notice, I was trying to sleep and now it won’t be possible unless you get the hell out of my room now!”

Raphael had never seen the calmest turtle of the family get _this_ angry before; his breathing going from steady slow to unsteady fast, his hands gripping the bed sheets so hard he could almost rip them. And the way he was staring at him- _glaring_ at him- if those brown eyes could kill, he would be dead by now; maybe even Shredder would not stand the deadly glare Donatello was giving to the sai wielder.

Raphael had some advantage over Don, though: he was still older than him, he was the second in command and now the de facto leader of the team until Leonardo woke up. He would not let himself be intimidated by the resident genius… but he couldn’t use violence to make his point. Not again, not ever.

“Well, guess what? I’m staying right here” He said in a monotone and calmed voice. “My presence may upset you but I ain’t leaving you alone in a moment like this”

Don’s glare turned lost its previous intensity though it was still a bit intimidating. He laid down again, resting on his side and avoiding Raphael’s eyes. “Whatever”

This is why Raphael hated to argue with his younger brothers; with Leonardo things were different: when they argued, it was Leo who apologized first even when he didn’t need to. But with his younger brothers: Don and Mikey… Raph didn’t know what to say and sometimes, when he tried to say something nice, he ended up doing more bad than good. 

Donatello was slowly turning into another Raph just because of the stress and mental exhaustion and the latter felt frustrated and helpless. Raph now started to wonder if this is how Leo felt when he had to deal with his bad temper all the time.

Then it hit him; _Leonardo_ … even in his current state, he could help him after all. But how? Again, the leader had the solution.

“Leo always went to my room after I had a shitty day, you know?” Raph began. “He would knock at my door and I would just ignore him but he wouldn’t leave. He just stayed outside the door…waiting” 

The red-clad ninja could feel his brother stiffen after hearing the eldest turtle’s name. Since Don still remained silent, he continued. “I don’t really know what made me open the door- maybe I felt _compassion_ for the poor guy- but I did it… all the time. And there he was, still smiling at me and asking if he could do something to help me feel better” He chuckled. “Can you believe him? After I treated him so bad, he still wanted to help me!”

“He’s our brother” Don finally talked. “It’s the logical thing to do”

Raph shook his head. “Not all brothers are willing to help you when you’re down, Don. Anyway, I didn’t want his pity, I didn’t want his help. So I would _yell_ at him, tell him get out but… he never did. Leo never left me; no matter how many times I pushed his buttons… he would never leave me”

“And… he continued to do the same thing every time you felt down, right?” Don asked.

The sudden question caught Raph totally off guard; he was just too immersed in his memories that he had almost forgotten the genius was there and actually _paying attention_ to every single word; he turned his face to see his brother who was now sitting up facing him again and looking at him in deep concentration.

 _'Typical Donnie’_ Raph thought with a chuckle as he nodded. “Yeah, he came to cheer my up every single time”

“Well… that _does_ sound like Leo”

“I never told him that I really appreciated that gesture of his… I should have done it, though”

He had to stop talking; the annoying knot in his throat was making this harder than it already was. It wasn’t until this moment that Raphael understood the pain Don and everyone was feeling, the despair… the feeling of helplessness. He was just too focused on staying strong that he had forgotten he had some pain of his own he needed to get off his chest.

Instead, he replaced his pain with anger that was way easier to let out and that was hurting his brothers. All the words he had said to Mikey, to Donnie… to Leo; his brother, leader and best friend might not wake up again and Raph never had the chance to tell him how grateful he was, how much he appreciated it his company, his advice, his overprotection.

“I should have told him, Donnie…” Raph said almost whispering. “I should have let him know I appreciated him, admired and loved him”

“Leo knew that already” Don commented with a sad smile.

Raph tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, maybe. Listen, I know I ain’t Leo and I suck at this but-”

“-Raph, you don’t need to be him to comfort your brothers” The genius said. “And to be honest, I’d been feeling a little better since you came here… even if I was being an asshole at the beginning”

“Don’t sweat it, genius. We’re cool” Raph smiled punching Don’s arm playfully. “And I understand you; believe me, it ain’t pretty to see your brother unconscious in a bed, knowing he’s fighting some kind of internal demon and we can’t do anything to help him”

Don sighed. “I don’t get it. Why would Leo refuse sensei’s help?”

“He’s blaming himself for everything that’s happened, we all know that”

“That’s pretty stupid”  

“No, that’s Leo… oh wait, there’s no difference” Raph laughed. 

“Har-di-har… the funny mutant is making jokes about his unconscious brother” Don said in a sarcastic tone. “Oh, that’s so nice! We should all just laugh till our sides get sore”

“You’re seriously turning into a mini-me, Donnie”

The purple and the red-clad ninjas looked at each other and laughed quietly; all anger and hatred suddenly forgotten. Raph would have to tell Leo about this later: he had actually solved a conflict using civilized and meaningful words. His eldest sibling would never believe it. Speaking of him…

“What do you think it’s happening in Leo’s mind?” Raph asked.

Don shrugged. “Beats me. I guess we’ll have to wait for sensei to give it another try and see what happens. I just hope he’s ok”

The red-clad ninja placed his arm around the genius’ shoulders and pulled him close in a one-armed hug. “Hey, we brought him home and you and LH patched him up. What could possibly go wrong now?”


	29. Chapter 29

“ _Monsters are real and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”_

―Stephen King

* * *

 

When Leonardo opened his eyes, there was darkness everywhere; no source of light was near, no sound could be heard and no presences could be felt. It was just him alone in the darkness. Or at least that’s what he wanted to believe.

The sword wielder was curled up in a ball in a corner of the dark place where he found himself at; bloodied bandages covered his body as well as scratches, cuts, bruises and deep bloody gashes on his neck. In the last forty minutes, Leonardo had managed to escape the monster that was after his soul and the last bits of sanity remaining in his mind; it had been a tough battle, a battle he almost lost but didn’t.  

But all the things he saw, all what he had been forced to hear, all the stress and psychological torture he had to endure… it was all too much even for a disciplined mind like his. He shivered violently, his gaze was lost in the nothingness, his limbs weren’t responding; he was too weak to move, talk… even blinking required a herculean effort from the sword wielder ninja but more than physical pain, it was his soul and heart the ones who had been the most affected. In all his life, he had never felt so utterly alone and terrified; he wanted to wake up, he wanted to scream for help, let someone… _anyone_ … know he was still there, still fighting… still alive.

Yet he found himself unable to do such things; he had to remain trapped inside his mind and avoid his father’s attempts to reach him for the horrible things that awaited him if the monster discovered Leo hadn’t kept his word.

* * *

****

**_Forty minutes earlier..._ **

__…_ _

_…_

Last thing Leo remembered was the roar of one of Flynn’s tigers as he ran towards him, his jaws wide opened and aiming for the kill. This was it, the ninja had thought, that was the end of his life: as tiger chow, not a quite honorable way of dying; wouldn’t be painless either. And to make it worse, his brothers were there; they would witness the horrible display. Seconds passed and he still couldn’t feel anything.

_‘Maybe this is how it feels to be dead’_ Leo thought. _‘No pain, no suffering… just peace’_

The blue-clad ninja opened his eyelids very slowly; nothing but darkness welcomed him. Next thing he noticed was that he was no longer tied up and his mask, that had been as gag, was back on his face. As he stood up, he touched parts of his body that he knew were bleeding but now, those wounds had bandages and they had been cleaned and stitched. The sword wielder looked at his surroundings; there was no sign of Flynn, his tigers or his brothers. Everything around him was so pitch black he couldn’t even see his fingers. 

It felt like being blind.

“Alright, I don’t feel like I’m dead. I must be unconscious, that’s it” Leo said to himself and began to walk. “Now, if I just knew where the hell I am”

From the distance, moans of pain came to Leonardo’s ears and the smell of fresh blood hit his nostrils. The sword wielder’s mind was flooded by the most horrible scenarios he could think about; his heart rate began to accelerate and so did his steps. Leo decided to follow the whimpers that grew louder the more he approached to the source of the pitiful sounds. Soon, the incomprehensible moaning became clearer and, too much for the blue-clad ninja’s dismay, the moaning belonged to three familiar voices.

_“L-Leo…”_

“Don?” Leonardo tried to guide himself by the sound of the genius turtle’s voice but soon he was distracted by another one.

_“Don’t… c-come…”_

“Raph?! Raph, where are you? Keep talking to me!”

The blue-clad ninja pawed at his surroundings frenetically, trying to touch something- a wall, a door or even feel his brothers in the process, but his hands just flailed in the cold air and this darkness was making things harder; Leo couldn’t feel or see anything but he knew his brothers were badly injured. Now the question was: how badly?

_“P-please… you mu-ust… es…c-cap-e…”_

Alright, something was definitely not right; Mikey’s voice sounded raspy and like he was talking with water in his mouth, but Leo knew it was probably blood and his other two brothers’ voices sounded weak and broken as well. The sword wielder was truly desperate now. Where was he and what had happened after he fainted? What was happening right now? Where the hell was Flynn?

“Mikey! Guys, what’s going on?” Leo asked desperately. “What did he do to you?!”

“Why don’t you take a look by yourself?”

“Flynn?”

All darkness vanished in a blink and was replaced by a blinding light that took Leo by surprise. The blue-clad turtle covered his eyes; he began to feel dizzy all of the sudden and walked backwards, his eyes still covered. He stumbled with what he thought it was a big rock but as soon as he got used to the brightness, lowered his hands and opened his eyes; he made the most gruesome discovery of his life. Before his eyes, there laid the bloody and beaten forms of his three brothers; they had long gashes all over their bodies and some of the flesh on his legs and arms had been bitten off and eaten by the couple of giant felines that licked the blood off  their whiskers and fur.

The sword wielder couldn’t articulate any words; he was paralyzed, froze in place, his mouth gaping in a kind of rictus of startling alarm. 

“Oh god...” 

“Isn’t it beautiful, my pet?”

Flynn’s voice made the ninja turn around swiftly. There he was, standing tall and proud; admiring his pets’ job and smiling wickedly. Leo reached for his katanas but they weren’t there, he was weaponless and so were his fallen brothers. Samuel approached to one of the tigers and petted him lovingly.

“Your brothers fought so hard to rescue you but in the end there could be only one winner. And that had to be me, of course”

“But they were alright! This... THIS CAN’T BE REAL!”

“Well, they are not _‘_ alright’ _now_ ” Samuel chuckled. “And it _is_ real, Leonardo. Just like you and me”

“You’re going to pay for this!” Leo growled. He sent a hard kick towards the white clothed man but he had mysteriously vanished, just to appear behind the blue-clad turtle grinning like a maniac.

“Why should I? I gave your brothers the opportunity to leave; they knew you were done for, Leonardo. Yet they stayed and fought for you! Now look at them!”

The bearded man pointed at the three agonizing turtles with his walking stick; in the tip of it, there was Michelangelo’s eye looking straight at Leo almost accusingly.  In the pool of blood where he laid, Raph coughed out blood and struggled to breathe; his golden eyes slowly closing. Don cried out in pain when he tried to move; his legs were a bloody mess and had probably been bitten till the bones broke in several parts, it was a miracle the tigers didn’t eat them. Mikey’s arm had been partially eaten and his shell had a big crack; whoever that saw him in those conditions could tell he was in incredible pain. He sobbed and looked at Leonardo pleadingly with his remaining eye like asking him to end with his misery.

“Look what you have done, you worthless excuse of a turtle” Flynn hissed. “This is all _your_ fault”

Leo’s eyes snapped open; he wasn’t even aware he had closed them till this moment. “If there’s someone to blame here that’s you!!” 

Samuel smiled innocently. “Oh really? Well, if it wasn’t for your stubbornness… I would have let you go instead of keeping you and your brother for 3 months”

“You’re lying” Leo hissed, his eyes narrowed and focused on Flynn who had began to pace around him and his brothers’ bodies like a vulture.

“If it wasn’t for you, Donatello would’ve never questioned his intelligence” Samuel continued “Raphael wouldn’t have mistreated his family because of his desperation and anguish…and your father, oh your dear father- did I mention he almost died?”

Leo’s hands clenched tightly and trembled because of the turtle’s bottled anger; he tried to keep his composure and not let Samuel see his words were affecting him but after hearing all those insults, all those lies Flynn dared to throw at him like so and after seeing what he had done to his beloved brothers… something inside Leo just snapped. Changing to berserk mode and forgetting all lessons about self control, Leonardo let out an animalistic growl and charged with all his might towards the white suited man in blinding rage. He aimed to punch Samuel’s jaw but as soon as his fist touched him, the man vanished and laughed at Leo’s repetitive and unsuccessful attempts to attack him; the blue-clad ninja was so furious that his concentration was failing and it was affecting his movements. Flynn re-appeared behind Leo and tapped his shell with his cane; the ninja spun around swiftly and sent a punch to the air. Again, Flynn had vanished mysteriously and continued laughing hysterically; that made Leo’s anger intensify which led him to throw kicks and punches randomly like some desperate, vulgar street fighter.

A tiny whimper made Leo look at his massacred brothers lying in the bloody ground and he stopped. His brothers, his beloved brothers… they looked so broken, weak, and…lifeless.

Leo approached to the bodies and crouched down next to Donatello; he was lying on his side, eyes closed and on the corner of his mouth, a thin trail of blood made its way to the ground. Hesitantly, the blue-clad turtle touched his brother’s neck to feel a pulse; he found none. Tears gathered quickly in his dark brown eyes but he didn’t let them out just yet; he had heard whimpering and if it wasn’t Donatello’s then it had to be Raph’s or Mikey’s. He moved to Raphael’s side; the sai wielder rested on his shell, his eyes were opened with dilated pupils and his chest was still. Leonardo chocked back a sob and passed a hand over Raph’s face, closing his golden eyes.

This was too horrible to be truth. Raphael… Donatello… they were gone forever; nothing and no one would bring them back. And Michelangelo…

Could that pitiful sound have come from him? If that was true, then Leo wouldn’t have to be completely alone; he may have lost two brothers but he could still hold onto one. The sword wielder turned around to glance at Mikey’s body’s direction but a beam of light distracted him.

_"My son…”_ The voice of his father and sensei came out from the light.  _“My son, please listen to me and follow my voice. Your family awaits for your return. Please come back to us"_

Splinter’s voice was a great comfort for the distraught teenager who approached to the light; slowly but constantly giving one step at a time, Leonardo got closer and closer until he saw his father’s face and, to his surprise, Raphael and Donatello were also there looking at him expectantly and worriedly.

 _‘My brothers…they’re… they’re alive!’_ Leo smiled widely wiping the tears off his face. He ran to meet his family; he would finally escape this hellish nightmare. Just when Leo was about to reach the light, Flynn materialized right in front of him blocking his path and looking at the ninja with devilish eyes.

“Where do you think you’re going, _pet_?” 

“Get the hell away from me!” Leo growled and ran past the maniacal apparition. The image of his brothers was vanishing slowly and Leonardo panicked; for the first time in his life, he didn’t want to be left alone. He was terrified to see his family was disappearing before his eyes… again.

“GUYS, I’M HERE!” The sword wielder yelled desperately. “FATHER, FATHER PLEASE!”

Flynn laughed harder. “Yes, yes. Call your daddy, you poor baby. Once he reaches your pathetic mind, I will make sure he suffers as bad as you!”

Leo stopped on his tracks.  “What! How do you know-”

“-I have studied you more than enough to know everything about you, Leonardo” Samuel explained in a monotone voice. “So, what will you do? Fight me and let your father and your brothers suffer with you? Or… surrender and suffer alone for the rest of your life”

“I will never surrender!”

“You didn’t say that the last time we met. In fact, you admitted your feared me”

Clenching his jaw so hard it hurt, Leonardo turned to Flynn; his eyes glaring at him murderously. “I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!”

“Prove it”

With that said, Samuel morphed into a gigantic corpse-like version of himself; his face hollow with no eyes except the one he had taken from Michelangelo which was no longer at the top of his walking stick, now it was in the middle of his forehead. His hands changed into sharp claws and every time he grinned, fangs and some rotten teeth could be seen; the smell that came from him was putrid and repulsive… like several decaying bodies.

The battle would be highly unfair since Leonardo had no weapons to defend himself and his condition wasn’t the best but even so, the blue-clad ninja didn’t think about running away from this monstrosity. Flynn’s claws tried to capture Leo but the sneaky ninja back-flipped a couple of times and avoided the claws’ deadly grip. From Samuel’s orbits came a thick, black ooze that, in contact with skin, would dissolve the tissue; Leonardo had to learn this information the hard way when he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the mortal “liquid” and a few drops touched his arm.

The pain was unbearable; Leo hissed at the stinging pain but continued avoiding Flynn’s attempts to catch him.

Finally, in one of his many tries, Leo could break a couple of Flynn’s razor sharp nails and use them as “swords” to attack back. Samuel let out a terrifying, high pitched scream when Leo slashed one of his deformed legs; when he opened his pestilent mouth, more of the black, acidic ooze came out and this time landed in Raphael’s and Donatello’s cold bodies, disintegrating them immediately and completely. Leonardo’s heart broke in tiny pieces after seeing this act of disrespect towards his fallen brothers; even when he knew this was all just a vision, seeing his brothers being reduced into nothingness still hurt.

Flynn took this moment of weakness and charged towards Leonardo but the blinding light appeared again, stronger this time; and materialized to form the silhouette of Splinter, who valiantly stood in the middle of his eldest son and this horrible creature.

Leonardo’s gaze met Splinter’s, whose eyes were telling what his mouth couldn’t: he had come to save him. The old rat extended his paw towards his son but just when the ninja was about to reach his father, Samuel screamed again and charged full speed at Splinter’s direction.

“NO! YOU WON’T HURT HIM!” 

With the last of his mental strength, the blue-clad built a wall between the old sensei and himself; he gave Splinter a cold and angry glare, Leo hated doing this but he wouldn’t let this demon haunt his father as well.

“THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME, MONSTER!”

Samuel laughed. “As you wish!”

He spit more black ooze and took advantage of Leo’s distraction to grab him by the neck tightly, digging his claws into the tender flesh making Leonardo bleed profusely. The ninja gasped and squirmed and flinched every time Flynn’s claws scratched his skin. Limb by limb, inch by inch of skin this monster scratched and slashed deeply, snapping Leo’s bandages an re-opening his already stitched wounds. Suddenly, another scream joined the scene.

“Hear that? Those sweet little sounds? It is the sound of Michelangelo’ screams when I dug out his eye” Flynn hissed. “He was calling for you all the time; pleading for his big brother and hero to save him. And where were you?!”

The sword wielder was thrown into ground carelessly; too weak to get up and fight back, Leo remained lying on his side while Samuel returned to his elegant human form. The ninja coughed due the previous lack of air and his weak attempts to breathe again and took a kneeling position, grabbing his bloody neck.

“You’re truly pathetic and worthless, Leonardo. Not even good enough to save your brothers. Instead, you sent them to right their dishonorable deaths”

“IT WASN’T MY FAULT!” 

“Who ordered your brothers to split up the night I captured you?” Flynn asked.

Leo’s eyes opened like saucers. “H-How did you know about that?”

The white dressed man ignored his question and continued interrogating Leo. “Who took Michelangelo out of your regular route instead of going back home? Who failed in battle and with his defeat obligated his youngest brother, the baby of the family, to mutilate himself? Wasn’t it you, Leonardo?”

“But… I-I…-”

“-WASN’T IT YOU?!” Flynn asked accusingly. 

The ninja had gone mute; all what this mad man said was truth, Leo knew. He didn’t know how exactly he knew that but the thing was: Flynn was right, every single fucking word was pure truth and Leo couldn’t argue back; he didn’t have a valid argument. Again, the pain-filled screams irrupted in the dark room; this time, they were clearer.

_“LEO, MAKE HIM STOP! HELP ME!”_

It was Michelangelo. The eldest turtle could hear Mikey’s screams and before his eyes, the blood-freezing sight of his baby brother tied up to a chair while the sadistic man plunged the scalpel deeper and deeper into Mikey’s orbit.

_“LEO, LEO PLEASE! PLEASE, HELP!”_

Leo’s head started to spin, he felt nauseous and about to faint. The ninja felt on his knees, grabbing his head and closing his eyes tightly; his heart pounding into his chest like wanting to escape.  Big, fat tears began to soak his mask and roll down his face; the screams wouldn’t stop, the voices of his family calling him, Flynn’s maniacal laughter… It was all too painful… too horrible… too much to bear.

“STOP THIS! STOP THIS, PLEASE!” Leo cried out, slamming his fists on the ground. “I’m begging you… please… PLEASE, STOP!”

The voices stopped, no sounds, but Leo’s sobs, could be heard. Flynn crouched down till he was to the turtle’s ear level. “Now, tell me: who’s responsible for all those deaths?” 

"I… I am” 

“Who’s responsible of your family’s suffering? Whose fault is it, Leonardo?” 

“Mine, only mine” The ninja whispered.  

 Samuel stood up and started pacing around Leonardo as he dictated his “punishment”. “For bringing pain, suffering and dishonor to your clan, you shall remain incarcerated in your mind. Forever. You may never wake up, you may never leave your prison; for what you have done must be punished. Do you understand, Leonardo? Try to escape or even let your precious father reach you… and I will make sure he suffers greatly. Did I make myself clear?”

“I… I won’t leave... I swear”

“Good” The bearded man patted Leo’s head softly and walked away. “And remember, my pet… you are mine now”

With this, Flynn vanished and Leonardo was left in total darkness.


	30. Chapter 30

A month went by and Leonardo still didn't show signs of improvement. His physical form was there and his wounds were now fully healed but it was like his mind had been separated from his body and wasn’t planning on returning. The whole family was dead worried about the leader’s condition; Leatherhead and Donatello had to run innumerable scans just to make sure Leonardo wasn’t brain death. Luckily all the analysis gave a negative answer; Leo wasn’t a vegetable, he was alive… but unconscious.

Several meditation sessions had drained most of Splinter’s energy and now had left him in a weakened state and made the old rat felt incredibly hopeless. Only darkness and the feeling of sorrow, pain and blame welcomed him every time he tried to establish a link with Leonardo’s mind; Splinter knew his son was there but he had locked himself into his own mind filling it with dark thoughts and barriers. The question was: why?

During this lapse of time, the guys had to return to their training because of their father’s insistence. Leatherhead moved in with the Hamato family in order to be able to keep an eye on Leonardo 24/7 so the guys could go out patrolling, feeling relieved their brother was in good hands. Even so, the trio didn’t feel quite complete and constantly called back home asking for Leonardo’s condition status.

April and Casey visited constantly now and sometimes, they even stayed to sleep; April also helped controlling Leo’s vital signs, administrating vitamins and helping Don feeding him through a tube. Just because he was unconscious, that didn’t mean Leo’s body didn’t need food anymore. In order to keep him well fed, the family had a special feeding schedule they must follow; everyone was taught what to do and since this activity had become “normal” and regular, they were all professionals now.

Michelangelo still had some nightmares but they were getting easier to deal with thanks to Splinter and Raphael’s help who spent most of his time with the youngest now. The orange-clad turtle was slowly recuperating that special sparkle that lightened up everyone’s world; now he had begun to pull some small pranks and tell a few jokes but he had also matured a little bit, he could give you a very good advice whenever you needed one and would crack up a joke, adding his personal touch to any conversation.

Everything was pretty much the same, only with one turtle down. How long until things were back to normal?

Only time could tell.

* * *

Knocking softly at the lab’s door, Raph announced himself; the door couldn’t be found closed lately so entering to the lab and get the resident genius out was quite easy… or at least it would’ve been if it wasn’t for Don’s intense focusing while doing his researches and monitoring Leo’s vitals. There were days when the bo wielder would spend hours staring at Leo’s unconscious form or typing information on his laptop and not even flinch when a glass broke or when Mikey let out a girly scream while being chased by Raph. 

Today was one of those days. Don was so mesmerized by a medical book and a bunch of papers that contained Leo’s last analysis that didn’t notice Raphael was a few inches close to him.

The red-clad ninja gently shook his brother’s shoulder, finally getting the genius’ attention. “Donnie, Mikey says lunch is ready”

“Thanks Raph. I’ll be there in a sec” He answered and went back to his papers. That was, of course, before Raph snatched them off his hands.

“Oh no, you’re coming with me right now” Raph replied, pulling Don to his feet by grabbing his arm. “I know that _‘will be there in a sec_ ’ is a lie”

“I just needed to check Leo’s analysis, that’s all”

Raph rolled his eyes. That excuse was getting very old very fast. “Donnie, for the looks of it… the guy ain’t gonna leave that bed anytime soon. Try to chill!”

Donatello’s face turned serious, thoughtful and somehow hurt; he gazed at Leonardo with sad, tired and worried eyes. It was then when Raphael realized how stupid his comment had been.

“Sorry. Poor choice of words” 

Don shrugged casually. “It’s ok. Anyway, let’s go eat”

Raph observed in silence how the genius organized his notes and books before leaving. The place Don once called _‘his sanctuary’_ was a complete mess of discarded papers and lots of cans of energy drinks and coffee bags. Plus, there were a lot of vitamin bottles and numerous amounts of used medical supplies. Taking a better look at Donatello, the olive turtle seemed to have aged a couple of years; he had gotten skinnier and paler and that wasn’t a good sign. This was the reason why the family had to constantly look after Don, if he was left by his own for a couple of days, he would prefer starve to death rather than leaving Leonardo’s side.

Raphael couldn’t really get angry at his brother for neglecting his self being; if he was in his place, he would have done the same. In fact, he had been neglecting his physical a little bit as well; his nightly training hours had reduced, this way he could guard Leonardo during the night and allow Don to get some decent sleep once in a while.

During those long, sleepless nights, Raph would tell Leo about his day, about the new kata he had learnt, the new reality show on TV, the weather, about his bike and other random stuff.  He also told him about his feelings, about how lonely he felt without him to boss him around, how much he missed his lectures and even their arguments; he told him about Mikey’s nightmares, Don’s efforts to keep him alive and his father’s attempts on making a connection with him.  Even when he wasn’t sure Leo was listening, Raph felt the tension and stress leave his body right after talking to his eldest brother… or in this case at his limp, motionless body. And once in a while, the sai wielder would make sure no one was spying him, then, he could make himself a spot right beside Leo and lay down till he felt asleep listening to his brother’s steady breathing and the constant beeping coming from the heart monitor.

Once Donatello was content after seeing his workplace was relatively clean, he left his sanctuary but not before giving a last gentle squeeze to one of Leo’s hands. Raph looked at his leader on last time and sighed before closing the door behind him.

* * *

The scene in the kitchen was way different: less gloomy and more alive. Mikey hummed happily while he placed the plates on the table with Splinter’s help. Raph smiled to himself; seeing Mikey smile was such a rarity a few weeks ago but now, it would appear that good old Mikey was back.

“Did April and Casey leave already?” Don asked noticing their absence.

“Just April; she needed to buy some… uh… her girly stuff”

“Her... what now?”

“You know… when she’s… uh, the days she all moody and…” The youngest said, blushing slightly.

“Ooh, I get it. She’s in her period and went for pads” Raph blurted out making Don almost choke on his juice.

“You had to say it out loud?! Jesus, Raph! I was trying to be discreet” The youngest yelled, blushing even more.  Yes, it was pretty awkward to endure that part of having a female friend.

“Discreet, my ass. This is XXI century, Mike; none of that stuff is bound to be secret anymore. Besides, you know all that stuff from Don’s Sex. Ed. classes so I don’t understand why you freak out”

“Hey, where’s Casey?” Don asked changing the subject.

“Taking a shower” Mikey answered, sitting at the table with his plate of salad.

“Yo bonehead! You better not hog all the hot water again!” Raph yelled.

 _“I only did it once, ya diva!”_ Casey’s loud reply came from the bathroom.

"Oh sure, I'M the diva~ Mister _'I can't go a day without my strawberry scented soap!'_  ..."

The elevator doors opened and the red haired turtle’s friend made her entrance. Her facial expression was unreadable and she wasn’t carrying any market bags or anything that indicated she had gone to a store. Just when she was making her way to the kitchen, Casey came out of the bathroom wearing fresh clean clothes and towel around his neck.

“Sup, babe! What’s with the long face?” 

She motioned her boyfriend to follow her to the kitchen where their friends were. Casey was confused but hurried his steps. Once inside, the Hamatos turned their attention to the human couple.

“What’s wrong April? You look like you’ve seen Raph’s face when he just wakes up” Mikey joked earning a murderous glare from his hotheaded sibling.

Taking a deep breath, April finally talked. “I just heard something on the radio about the guy who kidnapped Leo and Mikey”

“What did you hear about Flynn?” Don asked.

“Police got a call from the neighbors about animal noises coming from the building. When they got there, they captured Flynn’s henchmen and freed the few animals that could make it out alive. They’re all being taken to refuges and-”

“What about the guy? Did they find the body?” Mikey interrupted.

“That’s exactly where I was going. There's no body”

Raphael paled like everyone else in the room but he tried to remain calmed and state the obvious. “Well, of course there was no body. Those damn tigers must have-”

April shook her head. “No Raph. Police found blood, yes. Shredded clothes? Yes. But both tigers were found dead with a bullet wound between their eyes and there was _no_ body in the scene”

Mikey’s only eye went wide. “So that means…”

“That fucker can’t seriously be alive” Raph quickly objected.

“But Raph-”

“- he can’t be alive! He just can’t be!” The hothead replied angrily at the red haired woman. “I was there when the tigers started to eat that motherfucker alive!”

“No, you weren’t, Raph. You left with Mikey because he got stabbed” Don argued. “So it might be possible that he just got lucky and escaped”

“Who the _fuck_ escapes from _two_ fucking wild tigers _alive_?” Raph spat furiously, standing up so fast that his chair fell over. “I say we go back there and find that bastard before the police does it… and this time, _nobody_ will stop _me_ from killing him”

“Miss O’Neil, what else did you hear about this man?” Splinter asked feeling a bit hesitant for doing so.  

“Only that the police is looking for him and hope he’s alive so they can take him to justice. He violated the terms of his conditional freedom by torturing animals again. Now his bank account and properties are all in hands of the State; he’s completely ruined and once police captures him, he’s in for a life sentence of even death sentence”

“Well, I say we skip the trial and go to the execution” Raph muttered twirling his sais expertly.

“Hold it; if Samuel is still alive, I don’t think he’s a mayor threat to us right now” Don said and the family looked at him strangely. “Think about it: He’s being searched by police, he has no money or any place to go and he’s probably very injured after _‘surviving’_ the tiger attack. Even if he wanted to, he can’t make our story public without risking being captured and going to jail”

Raph snorted. “Still, I won’t rest till I see that fucker’s corpse with my own eyes” With that said, the red-clad turtle placed his sais back into his belt and starting walking outside the room when a firm grip on his shoulder stopped him. 

“Raphael, you will not leave the lair!”Splinter ordered.

“Sensei, that psycho is still out there! He knows the lair’s location, he knows about all of us! He may be weak now but if we let him be, he’ll recover and he’ll go back to haunt and kill us and, God forbid, even kill our friends!”

“Raphael, enough!” Splinter yelled hitting the floor hard with his walking stick making said turtle flinch. “I will not discuss this with you any further! You shall stay in the lair to look after your brothers and leave this matter to authorities!”

Although their father’s word was law, Raphael was not going to give up that easily. “How can you simply ignore the fact Flynn mutilated Mikey and almost killed Leo, Don and me?! How can you allow that piece of _shit_ to live when you know he’s totally responsible of Leo’s _coma_?!”

“Leo’s in coma?!” Everyone shouted out in shock.

“But Don, you said he was just recuperating from his wounds! Like the time Shredder attacked him!” Casey pointed out still in shock by the news.

Splinter’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open slightly. He turned his gaze to his purple-clad son. “My son, is it true?”

Don’s hand fidgeted, his gaze glued on the ground. “I… I was not sure but…”

“Just fucking say it, Don! Cat’s outta the bag now!” 

“Raph, stop it! You’re making him nervous” April replied then turned back to the olive turtle. “Donnie?”

The genius turtle let out a sigh. “After the first two weeks, I started having my suspicions Leo could be brain dead so I ran a scan. Results were negative so the other option I had was a comma. I ran more tests and consulted with bunch of medical books and some internet sites… they all said the same thing. So I came to conclusion that Leo was in coma. And honestly, I don’t know if he’ll ever wake up”

Silence in the room could be cut with a knife in that moment. No one was expecting bad news with their lunch today; that was for sure.

“See? That’s why we have to go find Samuel and make him pay!” Raph said after a few minutes of tension. “Damn, I should have killed him when I had the chance!”

“Wait, wait… you had the chance to kill him but you didn’t? That sounds more like something Leo would’ve done” Casey said.

“I was _this_ close from doing it, Casey” Raph said, holding his index finger and thumb a half-inch apart. “If it wasn’t for Mikey, I would’ve made that motherfucker choke with my sai”

“Hey, don’t you dare to blame Mi-”

“-How could you…” Don’s reply was cut off by Mikey, whose voice was shaky and his eye glassy with tears. Realization hit Don the moment he saw his youngest brother face, he wasn’t supposed to know about Leo’s condition; no one was supposed to know it, anyway. 

“Mikey, I… I can explain”  

“Why you never told us, Don? Why you never told _me_?!” Mikey continued, his voice breaking slightly.

The genius came close to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. “Mikey, I wanted to. I swear, I was going to-”

“- _Don’t_ touch me!” Mikey swatted the hand away furiously. “First, Raph blames me for Flynn’s survival and now you… _you_ knew Leo was in coma all this time and you didn’t say a word!”

“Mikey, I’m sorry” Don tried again to reason with the youngest but the latter ran past him, going directly to his room.

“Liar! You’re a _fucking_ liar!” Mikey yelled from upstairs before slamming his room’s door shut. This was not exactly how they all expected their afternoon to begin.


	31. Chapter 31

**_Previously on “Race Against Death”…_ **

…

_"Why you never told us, Don? Why you never told me?!" Mikey continued, his voice breaking slightly._

_The genius came close to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. "Mikey, I wanted to. I swear, I was going to-"_

_"-Don't touch me!" Mikey swatted the hand away furiously. "First, Raph blames me for Flynn's survival and now you… you knew Leo was in comma all this time and you didn't say a word!"_

_"Mikey, I'm sorry" Don tried again to reason with the youngest but the latter ran past him, going directly to his room._

_"Liar! You're a fucking liar!" Mikey yelled from upstairs before slamming his room's door shut._

_This was not exactly how they all expected their afternoon to begin._

 

* * *

 

 

Donatello stared at Mikey’s-now closed- room’s door and sighed. “Looks like we screwed up”

Raph shot him a glare. “ _We_? Ain’t my fault you didn’t have the balls to tell the knucklehead what was really going on!”

“You have your share of fault too, Raph!” Don argued. “You could have told him yet you stayed quiet! And I didn’t even order you to-”

“-you don’t order _me_ , you lil’ shit!”

Splinter slammed his walking stick against the floor. “ENOUGH! Donatello, you should have not hidden this information to us. We are family and no matter how hard the truth is, we must face it together”

The purple-clad ninja hung his head in shame. Splinter, then, glanced at his red-clad son. “Raphael, you may did not have intentions to hurt Michelangelo but his spirit is still fragile which makes your brother susceptible to certain words; you should have chosen yours wisely”

Said turtle growled lowly but didn’t argue against his father; deep inside, Raphael knew Splinter was right. He avoided the old rat’s eyes and decided to look at his dark green feet.

Splinter sighed. “As for this... Samuel Flynn, I stand firm in my decision of not pursue him for now”

“So we can still go after him but just… not now?” Casey asked.

“That is correct, Mr. Jones”

“That means we could go after him…, I don’t know… after dinner?”

Splinter narrowed eyes. “Do you wish to feel my walking stick on your head?”

The black haired human backed away holding his hands up defensively. “Uh… no thanks”

“Good. You are a smart man, Mr. Jones” Chuckling, the old rat made his way to the kitchen with Casey and Raph behind him.

Don was about to join them when a hand on his shoulder stopped him; he turned around just to meet April’s expressionless façade. “So… Leo’s in a coma, huh? Does LH know?” she asked in a monotone voice that sent shivers down the resident genius’ spine.

Just because April didn’t look angry, it didn’t mean she wasn’t; at least with Mikey, he knew what to expect the moment the truth about Leo’s condition was revealed. His baby brother had reacted. With April, things were different; she hadn’t said a word since the youngest disappeared into his room and that scared him.

“Well, does he?” April insisted.

“It was him who told me in the first place but I was in denial and wanted to figure that out by myself. Ends up he was right” Don confessed.

The redheaded woman sighed deeply, folded arms against her chest and looked away from the olive turtle standing before her; she glanced at Mikey’s room, wondering if he was alright but also sympathizing with his reaction. Like the youngest turtle, she felt hurt and somehow betrayed by the one she considered her friend. What Splinter said was right: they were family and whatever the problem was, they could solve it together. If only Donatello had been honest from the beginning, at least with her, maybe she could have helped him and Leatherhead gathering information and thinking on ways to help Leonardo out of his current state.

Donatello looked at his redheaded friend and bit his lip all out of nervousness; April’s stern pose made him feel unsure if he should continue this conversation or just walk away and leave her with her thoughts. Tentatively, he cleared his throat to call her attention and almost immediately green eyes were staring coldly into Don’s brown ones.

“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

The glassy look on the genius turtle’s eyes and the pained voice that came from him broke April’s serious posture in less than a blink. Taking several breaths to calm down, she finally unfolded her arms and sighed loudly. “I won’t deny I feel… hurt. You could have told me, Donnie. You could’ve told, at least, Splinter about this!” She said almost accusingly.

“I didn’t want to lie, I just…”

Don stopped talking when he felt an annoying knot in his throat. Truth to be told, he didn’t have an explanation to justify his actions and saying he wanted to spare the family from all the pain and suffering _he_ had to endure since the moment he discovered Leo’s situation seemed like a meaningless excuse to the bo wielder.

No words could be said to fix this mess he had gotten himself into, Don knew that pretty well, but maybe a sincere apology could be a good start. “April, I know whatever I say now won’t change things but… I’m really sorry”

The redheaded woman offered Don a comforting smile. “Apology accepted but you _do_ realize it’s not me who you must apologize, right?”

Don gave her a questioning look but then it hit him. She was talking about Michelangelo. “You think he’ll want to talk to me?”

“You’re his brother _and_ best friend. Of course he’ll talk to you” 

The resident genius went back to look at his baby brother’s room. “Well… I guess it doesn’t hurt to give it a try” He said after a long sigh of resignation.

“Alright, then. It’s settled; you’ll talk to Mikey. But first you’ll come join us in the kitchen and eat something. I mean, when was the last time you had a decent meal? You look so skinny I swear I could lift you with my pinky if I wanted to” April said in a playful/motherly way

“Nah, I’ll pass. I don’t think I’m hungry anymore” Don replied, making his way back to the lab. Little did he know that April had taken possession of his mask tails.

“I don’t think so!” April said using a commanding tone and pulled the tails in a not so gently way making the genius yelp in both surprise and pain.

“OW! HEY, WHAT GIVES!”

With the mask tails still in her hand, the redheaded woman stared into Don’s brown eyes in a way that scared the bo wielder but also brought back a memory of his fallen brother. Only three persons in the world could give Donatello “ _the stare_ ” and have him at their mercy: Splinter, April and Leonardo. _Especially_ Leonardo.

Don had grown accustomed to Raphael’s threatening and murderous stares so he didn’t have that much power over the genius but when it came to Leo’s _special_ stares, the purple-clad ninja much rather receive a whack up the head than endure Leo’s angry eyes on him. Back to reality, April was still standing before the resident genius; the mask tails no longer in her possession but her serious posture hadn’t changed a bit.

“Donatello, either you go eat by yourself or I’ll use Leo’s feeding tube on you. And you know I will!”

“Alright, alright!” Don replied holding his hands up in defense. “Gee, April! Talk about extremisms!”

“If you think that’s extremist, just ask Casey the things I’ve told him I’d do if he ever comes home extremely drunk, with lipstick or doesn’t call regularly when he’s outside patrolling” April chuckled.

Don gulped. _‘And it’s in moments like this when I say to myself: I’m so glad I’m single’_ He said mentally as he walked to the kitchen.

Glancing one last time at the brown, tattered door that sealed Mikey’s room, April and Don joined the others at the table though this meal was going to be one the whole family would not enjoy.

 

* * *

  
 

Not many words were exchanged during lunch; not that there was something they had to discuss other than the fact that Flynn could be probably alive, though. In the middle of their conversation, the redheaded woman received a call from a client; she excused herself and left the lair leaving Casey with the Hamatos just in case of an emergency.

Donatello took this opportunity to leave the table as well, his meal barely eaten. With April there watching him like a hawk, the purple-clad ninja hadn’t been able to escape and lock himself into his laboratory so as soon as the entrance door closed, Don also left his seat and sprinted towards his sanctuary hoping no one would follow him or stop him from leaving so abruptly. Raphael, however, _did_ notice his brother’s sudden departure. He wouldn’t have any problem with that if only Don had gone to Mikey’s room and try to convince him to come out but when he saw the resident genius hiding in the lab, his blood began to boil in anger.

Why was Donatello breaking the promise he made to April? Why was he avoiding Mikey instead of fixing things between them? So many questions invaded Raph’s mind but right now his main worry was Michelangelo. If Don wasn’t going to act like a man and deal with the consequences of his actions, that was _his_ problem. Right now, Raph had a baby brother whose trust he had to win back and he was not going to leave that room until they were in good terms again. Giving a tentative knock at the door, Raph waited for his brother to say something; however, he was welcomed by silence.

The sai wielder grabbed the knob and turned it, surprised to find out the door wasn’t locked as he thought it would be; he peeked inside and saw Michelangelo sitting on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest and the orange fabric that covered his face resting on top of his drawer leaving the nunchack wielder maskless.

“Hey bud”

“I didn’t tell you to come in” Came Mikey’s harsh reply.

“You didn’t tell me not to either”

The youngest turtle’s bitter replies died there prolonging the already uncomfortable silence between both terrapins. Raphael walked towards his brother’s bed and noticed he stiffened a little but didn’t stop him from getting closer.

“May I?” He asked signaling a spot beside the upset turtle. The latter gave his brother a curt nod.

Seeing he was making some kind of progress, Raph decided to stop stalling and go to the point. “Listen, I know you probably don’t wanna talk about to me right now but-”

Mikey, who had been avoiding his brother’s eyes, suddenly turned his face to glare at him with his remaining eye. The sai wielder almost jumped back, a bit taken aback by his brother’s sudden reaction. “If you knew what was happening Leo then, why did you lie to me? He’s my brother too, you know? And as part of this family, I deserve to know how my brother is doing even if there’s bad news!”

His briother's voice sounded hurt but accusing; his eye had unshed tears Raph realized were of anger and pain. Raph rubbed the back of his neck, lowering his gaze in shame. “We just thought you…well, maybe…”+

“You thought I was too weak and pathetic to face the truth, is that it?” Mikey spat out.

“Of course not!” 

“Then why did you hide this from me? Why didn’t you tell me Leo was in a coma?”

Raph always had a sharp remark ready every time he was interrogated; growing up as a rebel had gave him that _‘ability’_ , yet this time, words had abandoned him and all trace of security and fearlessness was gone. He couldn’t talk, couldn’t stare at his brother, couldn’t explain himself or his actions. He just sat there, beside his youngest brother. In silence.

“ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!” Mikey yelled startling his brother who immediately snapped out of his little trance.

 An angry Mikey sure was a rare sight but Mikey wasn’t just angry. He was pissed off and that was scarier than all the most horrifying things in the world combined. Seeing there was no possible way to sugar coat the truth, Raphael let out a long sigh and looked at Mikey straight in the eye.

“I’d noticed Donnie was acting off for quite a while; when I asked for Leo’s condition he always said weird stuff and he was nervous and jumpy so I started to suspect. When he finally told me what was going on with Leo, I almost beat the crap out of him for hiding this to us for so long. Lucky him LH was there or else I could’ve hurt him badly. Once I calmed down, we discussed whether to let you know nor not and considering you were still having a bad time; I told Don you shouldn’t know that just yet, after all you were still recovering and with the amount of nightmares you had at the time and the long meditations session you had to endure, you weren’t emotionally ready to take that kind of blow. Now I know what we did was wrong but we just didn’t want you to suffer more”

“What do you mean?”

“When we brought you back home, you were depressed, broken and had we told you Leo was in a coma you would’ve hidden yourself into your shell and never allow us to help you. I know you still feel guilty for what happened to Leo and that makes you vulnerable in all ways possible. Sensei said you were trying to mask those feelings by acting like nothing had happened but if you hadn’t had that talk with him, those feelings would’ve consumed you and we would’ve never been able to reach you! We would’ve lost you, Mikey”

The nunchack wielder scowled at his brother. “Leo is the one lost here, not me!”

“When you arrived, the both of you were lost” Raph replied immediately, placing both hands on his brother’s shoulders. “And yes, Leo is still lost, but better him than my baby brother; it’s what he would’ve said”

Shrugging Raph’s hands off his shoulders, Mikey stood up, walked away from the red-clad ninja and leaned against a cold brick wall with his arms folded against his chest. “You have to understand that I’m not a kid anymore; I can take bad news and shit like that. And even though I still blame myself for what’s happening to Leo, I can put those feelings aside and focus on ways of helping him. You shouldn’t have underestimated me, not this time”

Raphael flinched after hearing this but accepted Mikey’s statement. Hesitantly, he walked towards the maskless turtle and stood beside him, barely making any contact. “I’m really sorry, Mike. I really am”

“... do you think Flynn’s alive?”

The red-clad ninja sure wasn’t expecting the conversation to take an abrupt turn, especially because Mikey hadn’t said anything about forgiving him, but he took this change of subject as a good thing. Perhaps Mikey wasn’t so mad now. “I don’t know. It’s possible. Part of me wants him dead but the other part wishes to find him alive so I can plunge my sais into his skull”

Mikey hummed thoughtfully. He picked up his mask and tied it back on his head, then he proceeded to grab his nunchaks; one, he put it in his belt, the other he twirled it skillfully. “So, when are we gonna go after him?”

“Splinter said we couldn’t leave the lair”

After Raph’s reply, Mikey shot a glare at him. “Hey, if that sicko fooled death then it’s up to us find him and make him regret he didn’t get eaten by his pets!”

“Whoa! Calm down, tiger” Raph chuckled. “You sounded just like me for moment there”

“Don’t you want to find out if he’s really dead? And if he’s not, don’t you want to make him pay for what he did to us, to Leo?!”

Raph frowned slightly. “Sure I want to but-”

“-then help me think of a plan to get out of the lair without Splinter knowing! I know you’re good at those kind of plans so don’t play coy. It doesn’t suit you”

“Mikey, we can’t-”

“- Fine, then! If you’re not gonna help me, I’ll go alone” The orange-clad turtle was about to reach the door when a strong grip on his wrist stopped him. He locked gazes with Raphael; the latter had a serious face that made Mikey think of Leonardo when he was on ‘ _leader mode’._ “Let go off me, Raph”

“Until Leo wakes up, I’m the one in charge and if Splinter said we can’t go, then I’ll make sure nobody leaves this place and that’s final!”

Mikey snorted. “Oh, so now you start listening to Splinter and being the good, obedient son? If I remember well, you wanted to go after Flynn in the first place, you hypocrite coward!”

“Look, I just came here to apologize and I did. Don’t make me apologize again after kicking your sorry ass, whiny brat!” Raph growled.

“I don’t need your stupid apology and I certainly don’t need your help! I can find Flynn on my own so you like it or not, I’m leaving!”

Mikey tried to punch Raph’s face with his free hand but his fist was caught in his brother’s palm. The dark green turtle tightened his grip on his brother’s wrist making him wince but this didn’t stop him from trying to free himself and leave the bedroom.

“Michelangelo, enough!”

“You are not my leader, dumbass! You can’t tell me what to do!”

Raph’s concentration failed after hearing those words, they brought a sense of déjà vu and soon enough he was seeing himself and his eldest brother in the same scenario. Taking advantage of Raph’s distraction, Mikey freed one of his hands and aimed for the stomach this time. However Raph recovered on time and stopped the fist again, twisting it in the process but not bad enough to permanently harm his sibling. Mikey grunted in pain and tried to attack Raph using his legs this time but the latter noticed the smaller turtle was too frustrated and desperate to focus on a proper counterattack

The red-clad ninja yanked Mikey’s arm and threw the struggling turtle into the bed. “You’re staying here!"

“Make me!” Mikey jumped back on his feet and ran towards his brother, fists ready for a fight.

The orange-clad turtle sent a fist to his brother’s jaw but he didn’t even get close; the last thing he felt was a strike to the side of the neck pressure point before he fell heavily to the floor. Raph picked his brother and carried him bridal style back on his bed.

“Sorry for that, kid. But I’m not losing another brother” Once he made sure Mikey was well tucked in, Raph locked the door from outside and walked away from the room.


	32. Chapter 32

After administering Leonardo his daily dose of vitamins, monitoring his vital signs, cleaning him up, changing his IV, his pillow and bed sheets; Don could finally sigh in relief.

Just a few hours earlier he had to flee from the kitchen once he remembered his unconscious brother’s new routine had a delay of 5 minutes, 5 precious minutes essential for the leader’s recuperation. He _did_ catch Raph’s inquisitive gaze after he left; the resident genius knew his red-clad brother had overheard his and April’s conversation about Mikey and was probably asking himself why Don had _‘run away’_ instead of going straight to Mikey’s room.

Truth to be told, Donatello had already planned what his next move would be once he had finished lunch: go to Michelangelo’s room, have a nice talk and apologize. The End. But apparently his flawless memory decided to play tricks on him today, making him skip that part of the plan and go straight to the lab.

Donatello glanced at the clock; it was 3:45 pm already. He couldn’t understand how amazingly fast time passed when he was taking care of Leo and how agonizing slow it went when he left the infirmary. He rubbed his temples in circles, his headache was getting worse and the pills he had taken weren’t working at all. And he was also a bit hungry.

“Maybe some coffee will do the trick”

Walking towards his desk, he grabbed the pot and poured the dark, steamy beverage in the porcelain mug. It was then when he saw _the bottle_. He never thought he would be using it but as the saying went: desperate times called for desperate messures. And Don _was_ desperate.

He looked around a couple of times, making sure nobody would walk on him before grabbing the bottle and pouring the transparent liquid in the already occupied mug. Once both the coffee and the new liquid we’re mixed up, Don brought the mug to his lips, hesitated for a moment and finally after a deep breath, he took a long sip. He cringed at the new taste but swallowed down the rest of the coffee quickly.

At this point he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue drinking this, he also wasn’t sure if spiking his coffee with sake had been a good idea. He felt sick, guilty… what would Splinter say when he knew about this?

No.

Not when. _If_ … he knew about this. His Father had been watching him like a hawk lately; he had very strong reasons for doing so and that’s why Don would make sure he would never know about this.

He would get rid of the sake, destroy the bottle and never speak of this to anyone… right after another shot.

Make that two shots.

Or three.

 

* * *

 

_‘Claire, your stepsister’s brother in law is-’_

_‘-_ _a nonvenomous python_ _species_ _found in Africa._ _Females tend to-’_

_‘- call us in the next two minutes and win this-’_

_‘-headache and nausea for the next six days-’_

 

“Free cable and there’s nothing good on the goddamn TV. Unbelievable” Raph muttered while zapping channels for the umpteenth time. Sighing, the red-clad ninja glanced lazily at the clock. _6:15pm._ Almost dinner time and yet nobody seemed to mind that food hadn’t been cooked or served; in fact, no one had left their rooms the whole day.

At least knew where Mikey was: locked inside his room and probably still unconscious thanks to the pressure points he had used on the orange-clad ninja. Raph wasn’t sure how long the effect of the pressure points would last but with the door locked, the sai wielder knew his baby brother was safe and wouldn’t try to escape.

Splinter was probably meditating or had fallen asleep watching his soap operas since he now had a television in his room; compliments of Donatello, of course.

Then, it hit him.

Raphael hadn’t seen his genius brother ever since he _‘escaped’_ to his laboratory while they were having lunch a few hours earlier; he was still mad at the purple-clad ninja for disappearing from all sight with no explanations. Don was up for a long, long lecture and maybe an ass kicking if he didn’t come up with a believable explanation for his behavior. Turning off the TV, Raph left the couch and made his way upstairs towards Don’s room.

He stopped dead on his tracks when he heard the sound of glass breaking coming from the laboratory.

Raphael hurried his steps back downstairs and into Don’s sanctuary where he found his brother picking up pieces of what it appeared to be a test tube he may have knocked down by accident. The sai wielder took account that his presence didn’t seem to bother the purple-clad ninja at all but then again, he could be ignoring him. He cleared his throat loudly to call Don’s attention and immediately, the olive skinned turtle turned his attention to the darker terrapin standing by the door frame.

“So, you’re planning on hiding here forever or what?” Raph asked gruffly.

Don chuckled and turned back to clean up his mess. “I am not hiding; just playing doc again. Leo needed his meds and I almost forgot”

_'Well, at least he had a decent excuse’_ Raph thought _. ‘Maybe I’ll lecture him later’_ Once Don was done, he slumped heavily in the nearest chair, grabbed his mug and drank his coffee like drinking water. Raph eyed at him wryly; something was off about his brother but he couldn’t figure out what.

“What’s eating you?” The resident genius asked casually interrupting Raph’s train of thoughts.

“I talked to Mikey; it wasn’t pretty, you know?”

“You wrestled him till death or what?”

Raph was a bit taken aback by Don’s commentary. “It wasn’t necessary. He wasn’t exactly focused at the time so I used pressures points on him to knock him down but judging by the time, I’d say he’s awake already and probably trying to figure out how to unlock the door”

Don frowned, put his mug on his desk and rested his head in his hand. “You maniac, you can’t do that to your brothers” He replied slurring his words a little.

Raph jumped from his seat like a spring. “You calling _me_ maniac? Don, he was going to leave the lair and go after Flynn on his own! What else did you want me to do? If you hadn’t run away earlier, we could’ve talked some sense into him, the _both_ of us!” He yelled as he paced like a caged lion. “But _no_ , you had to leave me alone to deal with Mikey and now you call me a maniac! What the fuck is your problem, Don?! Seriously…”

Whatever Raph was saying, Don hadn’t caught a single thing, right now he was having serious trouble keeping his eyes open; his headache had gotten worse and now the world around him was spinning and morphing into weird shapes. He rubbed his eyes a couple of times, trying to fight the blurriness but it was no use.

“Hey! Earth to Don!” Raph snapped his fingers a few inches away from Don’s face startling him. “Are you even listening to me?”

The bo staff wielder looked at him in confusion. “Uh… whatever you did is fine”

Raph blinked. “Come again?”

“I mean, you’re in charge now; who am I to say you did wrong?” Don commented. “But then again, _you…_ never give a shit about _anything_!” He ended up in an accusing tone.

“Your brain must be either fucked up or seriously tired to make you say something like that, genius” Raph replied, eyes narrowed and staring straight into Don’s lost gaze.

“It could be both” Don hiccupped. “And at this point, I honestly don’t care. I’m too tired to give a shit about the world around me”

Standing this close to his brother allowed Raphael to perceive Don’s breath; it was a mix of coffee with a bit of something else. Alcohol, maybe? If that was the case then, which kind? It wasn’t beer nor whisky. Raph grabbed the mug in Don’s desk and, ignoring his brother’s protest to not drink _‘his precious’ coffee’_ and get his own, he took a small sip from the dark beverage.

Immediately, he spat out the liquid, a grimace of revulsion plastered on his face. “The fuck? What the hell is in this coffee?!”

“Nothing weeeeird, I promise~” 

The red-clad ninja walked past his drunk brother and saw the half empty bottle in the desk. “You spiked the coffee with sake?!” 

“Maaaaaybe a little, maybe a looooot!”

“For fuck's sake... at least tell me you were sober when you were checking up on Leo”

The bo wielder laughed loudly, choking on his spit in the process. “It’s not like he can complain or anything. Look!” He stood up, legs wobbling a little, and walked towards Leonardo; once he reached the bed, he giggled and began to poke his unconscious brother’s face, arms and chest; lightly but repeatedly.

“What the hell, Don! Knock it off!”

“This is better than playing with a rubix cube” The genius giggled.

Raphael grabbed his brother’ by the shoulder and roughly pushed him back to the chair; Donatello continued giggling and muttering nonsense. "How long you’ve been doing this? How long you’ve been doing this shit?” He asked trying to remain calm.

“What do _you_ care? My life, my decisions” Don said dryly. “Besides, that stuff helps, you should try it someday”

“You’re wrong. This _won’t_ help you; you’re smart enough to know that”

Don scoffed. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m really smart or just happen to have good luck all the time”

“You _are_ smart… the smartest son of a bitch who’s ever existed! Though I have to admit this is one of the most stupid things you’ve ever done” Raph said.

After hearing this, Don stood up immediately and glared at his brother the best he could in his precarious state. “So, when _you_ get wasted it’s ok but when _I_ get wasted it’s a _stupid_ thing? Wow, Welcome to Fucked-up-Land. Population: All of us!” He yelled, flailing his arms in the air. “Now we need an anthem, a flag… an anthem… did I say anthem already?”

Raph had to contain chuckle; a drunken Donnie was a ridiculously funny Donnie but this wasn’t right. Donatello shouldn’t be getting wasted, that was _Raphael,_ the _hothead’s_ job. His train of thoughts was interrupted when by the sound of someone falling; it was Donatello whose legs had given up supporting him, making the bo wielder land ungracefully on his tail.

“Seriously Donnie, how much of that stuff did you drink?” Raph asked while helping his brother stand up again.

“Don’t know, don’t care. But… come to think of it… I need more of my happy juice”

“No, you don’t. I’m getting rid of that shit and _you_ , you better go to bed before Splinter sees you and when you’re sober, you and I are having a talk” Raph said firmly. “Understood, Mr. Drunk Science?”

Donatello laughed quietly and put his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t be a party pooper! You’re not like Leo, you _love_ having fun, right?” He said, taking the bottle from Raph’s hands. “Trust me when I tell you: I. Am. OK!”

“No! You’re not!” Raph argued. In a quick move, he grabbed the bottle from Don’s hand, freeing himself from the genius’ one armed hug in the process.

“Hey! Give me that, I’m not done yet!” 

“You’re drunk, using your unconscious brother as a toy and you want me to give you _this_ shit back so you can get _worse_!? This ain’t like you!”Raph replied, his voice oozing concern and worry.

“Nothing is like anything _anymore,_ you dork! Why can’t you fucking understand that?” Don snapped at his red-clad sibling. “Leo’s as good as dead; Mikey’s a fucking mess and now look at me! The _so incredible genius_ is just a drunken pile of shit that can’t fix a fucking thing in this fucking _shithole_!”

Suddenly, the laboratory’s door opened swiftly. “Donatello, Raphael! What is all this bickering about?!”

“Oh! And I almost forgot our dear old dad!” Don continued ranting. Before he could get close to Splinter, Raphael grabbed him by the shoulders.

“He’s just drunk, Sensei. Don’t listen to him” He quickly explained while he fought for control against his squirming brother. “C’mon buddy, party’s over”

“Party? What party? Can’t you see we’re royally screwed?” Don argued weakly; the alcohol effects were starting to get him, making him sleepy.

“Take him to his room, Raphael. Then meet me in the dojo; we have something to discuss” Splinter ordered.

Don yawned.“Is it bedtime already?”

“Yes, yes it is” Raph replied, throwing his brother’s arm around his shoulders.

Once he made sure Don wouldn’t fight back again or slip from his grip, the sai wielder and the drowsy turtle walked out the lab and upstairs, stumbling once or twice along the way. By the time they had arrived to the resident genius’ room, he was snoring loudly in Raph’s ear. The latter chuckled to himself; Donatello was truly a cheap drunk though it was only because he had never been exposed to alcohol before and if he was offered some, he would always refuse.

After stripping the genius from his gear and mask, tucking him in and making sure he wouldn’t fall off the bad, Raphael went downstairs and to the dojo where his father awaited. He found the aged rat pacing from side to side and flicking his tail, something he did when he was angry or worried. In this case it could be both.

Seeing his red-clad son had entered the room, Splinter stopped pacing. “Is Donatello in his bed?” He asked.

“Yeah and I don’t think he’ll wake up anytime soon” 

The aged rat sighed, letting his ears drop. “I should have known something like this could happen”

Raph’s eyes opened like saucers. “What! You knew already? Then, why didn’t you tell me? Since when did you-”

Splinter held up his paw. “Raphael, this _is_ Donatello’s first time in contact with alcohol. But he has been seeking other ways to escape reality… and life itself”

“What... what do you mean?”

Splinter knelt down and gestured Raph to do the same. “What you will hear now is not a pleasant story, Raphael. It all started two weeks ago…”

 

* * *

  
 

The faint light of the lonesome lamp in the corner of the infirmary was the only thing that illuminated the room, altogether with the green, barely visible lights from the machines that indicated Leonardo was still alive. Outside, everything was darkness; not a single light from any of the rooms, not even Splinter’s candles in the dojo or his room.

The lair had never felt so silent, so dark and scary. So lifeless, so cold. So empty.

Everyone rested in their rooms or at least it would appear so. There was one member of the Hamato family that couldn’t sleep no matter how hard he tried and was now sitting beside the motionless leader of the clan with a lost and a bit haunted look on his face. Glancing at Leo’s direction, the red-clad ninja sighed and grabbed his brother’s hand with a rare delicacy just like he did many other nights after his rescue from Flynn’s place.

“I ain’t sure if you can hear me right now but I need someone to talk to that ain’t Sensei… or Casey” He started. “Things ain’t right here. You’d be horrified if you could see what we’ve become”

Absentmindedly, Raph began to stroke his brother’s hand with his thumb. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it; the sai wielder was still processing the story in his mind and slowly starting to accept his father’s words were true yet he couldn’t bring himself to repeat the whole story to Leonardo without breaking down… again.

“Splinter told me that… Donnie, he… he overdosed with painkillers; he’s been trying to kill himself several times over the past month. Apparently we didn’t notice Don’s change of attitude because we were so focused on helping Mikey and you… not that I’m blaming you guys…”

Raph’s grip on Leo’s hand tightened slightly; he cleared his throat loudly before continuing. “His depression got the best of him and… well, the pills were just there. Donnie told Father he swallowed a bunch of them but got scared and tried to throw up or scream for help but the pain was too… unbearable… it just wouldn’t let him say a word. Lucky him Splinter noticed otherwise Don would’ve…”

The sai wielder stopped for a moment; the thought of his brother lying on the floor, writhing in pain gave him shivers down his spine. “Splinter thought that shitty experience would be enough to keep him away from trying suicide again but I think he was testing himself, you know? Experimenting how much punishment his body could endure till it finally gave up”

He glanced at his brother’s face, like waiting for a reply. The constant beeping from the ECG machine was the only sound Raph got for an answer. “Wanna know about Mikey now? Well, he’s turning into a hothead like me and maybe worse. It won’t be long till he starts defying Father” He continued with a sad chuckle at the end. “Heck, he already tried to beat the shit outta me earlier!" The dark green turtle began to laugh quietly, his eyes stinging because of the unshed tears.

“And me? I feel like everyone is expecting a lot from me. They want me to take the hard decisions, to be Don and Mikey’s nanny… in other words, they want _me_ to be Leonardo. Because of that, I… I don’t know who I am anymore” Raph said, tears gathering in the corner of his amber eyes. “I keep asking myself what would _you_ do in a situation like this; if one of us was the one fighting for his life… would you go out looking for the man who hurt us and avenge our family? I mean, Sensei made us swear never to seek revenge; he said it was against our code of honor and knowing you, I’m pretty sure you’d stay home because of that. You’re way too honorable”

The red-clad ninja sniffled loudly and roughly rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, just like Leo used to do when he meditated; unfortunately, that memory only brought more tears to Raphael’s eyes and made the knot in his throat even more painful and hard to swallow. But the memories weren’t exactly the only reason of the sai wielder’s little breakdown.

“I’m not _you_ , Leo. I’m not the leader this family needs! I can’t make Mikey happy, I can’t reason with Don anymore… I can’t soothe Father’s pain…” After placing his brother’s hand back to position, Raphael stood up and hardened his features despite the tears now rolling freely down his face.

"…and I’m definitely not gonna stay here when the responsible for destroying our family is still out there and, God forbid, alive!” Turning around sharply the red-clad ninja walked away from Leonardo’s bed, his hands gripping the sais’ leathery handles tightly.

Before he crossed the doorframe, Raph gave his leader one last look and although his brain yelled at him to leave the room, his legs took him back to his spot next to Leo. “If you’d just wake up right now… I would stop myself from leaving right now, you know? So, how about you humor me and wake up already?”

He waited for a word, a twitch…a single sign. A sign that never came. Raph smiled grimly. “Yeah, didn’t think so. It’s ok, though I would’ve loved to be the first one you saw once you woke up. Anyway, I better leave now”

He bent forwards and very carefully put his toned arms around his brother’s torso in an attempt of a hug. He rested his head in the crook of Leo’s considerably warm neck and let a couple of tears glide down his brother’s skin. “Don’t ever blame yourself for this; remember: this was my decision. Love you”

Hesitantly, Raph broke the hug and after briefly pecking Leo’s forehead, he ran from the laboratory before he changed his mind and headed towards the elevator. Tonight it would be the last time Hamato Raphael would talk to his unconscious brother.

Tonight he would put an end to his family’s nightmare… even if that meant not seeing them ever again.


	33. Chapter 33

“Rise and shine, my pet”

_"That voice… not that voice again”_

Leonardo curled up further on the corner of his darkened and tormented mind; eyes closed, arms embracing himself as tightly as he could in his weakened state. A week had passed since Flynn’s last visit to Leonardo’s mind and it had been a wonderful week for the blue-clad ninja, free from that monster’s insults and mental torture. But just because he hadn’t heard Flynn’s voice that didn’t mean he had stopped suffering. Every time Samuel left him, the sword wielder fought to regain control of his mind hard enough to hear the voices of his loved ones talking to him.

It hadn’t been easy for him to evade Flynn’s strict vigilance and when Leo got caught, the punishment for his transgression was horrible. But when he did… the things he heard … that was far worse than any torture Flynn submitted him to.

Leonardo had lost count of the times he had heard Donatello subtle sobbing after everyone had gone to bed. He wanted to scream every time Leo heard his Father ask him why he refused his help. Michelangelo’s cries and pleas for him to wake up felt like hundreds of daggers. And Raphael… Leonardo loved his family equally but his connection with his impulsive brother was far stronger than anyone could even imagine and that’s why it killed him when his red-clad brother came to talk to him. During this month of torture and misery, Raphael had told him so much; funny stuff, serious stuff, common stuff… just like when he was awake.

One night, he even took advantage of Flynn’s moments of distraction and concentrated his hardest to regain control of his arm just to feel Raphael’s hand on his for a brief second. Moments like that kept Leonardo sane. Most of the time. And now, after a week of relative peace, just when he thought he would be forever free from that horrible voice, it had come back to haunt him again.

“Leonardo, stand up and face your master” The voice said firmly.

The blue-clad ninja broke his protective self embrace and uncurled his body, wincing at the pain caused for the stiffness of his muscles. Since the last time Flynn came to torment him, Leo had never left his submissive pose and the lack of movement caused him to get used to his curled up position and he would have stayed like this forever.

But Flynn’s voice meant _business_ so he had to accomplish his orders immediately and despite the pain, he moved. Slowly and letting out groans of pain every now and then, Leonardo went into a kneeling position, his gaze never meeting Flynn’s; receiving orders from a monster like him was humiliating enough to have to endure that mocking expression on his face as well.

“You are wasting my time, worthless creature. Stand up, now!”

Using his connection to Leo’s mind, Samuel sent the order to the turtle’s legs. The latter couldn’t help the yelp of pain at the sudden move; he felt like his limbs had just received an electrical discharge. Once Flynn managed to pull the turtle up from the ground, he used his mental connection again to pin him to the wall and _“freeze”_ his limbs in case Leonardo decided to attack him.

Finally pleased with his handiwork, Samuel began to pace in front of his reptilian prisoner. “Sorry for not visiting… it’s been a crazy week for me. It is quite impressive how time flies, is it not?”

Leo didn’t answer; he just stared at the dark void below his feet. He felt a hand reaching out to  _grab_  his  _jaw_  to tilt  _his_  head up with more force than needed and lifting his face in one swift movement. Samuel’s glare full of hatred pierced into the broken ninja’s soul and his captor’s curled sadistic grin sent shivers down his spine.

“Have you made any contact with your family? Have you been listening to them in my absence? Please _do_ tell me, Leonardo. I am sure you’ve enjoyed your week of freedom breaking my rules, have you not?”

“I haven’t contacted them” Leo answered calmly.

Samuel chuckled digging his nails into Leo’s skin until it was painful causing the blue-clad ninja to grunt in discomfort. Leaning closer to Leo’s face, he whispered into his ear. “Liar”

After he was released from his captor’s grip, Leo felt how his body was hit with waves of excruciating pain and this time he couldn’t help the screaming. 

“I told you to NOT contact them, you insolent fool! Was I not clear?! Or is it that you love being punished? Is that it, my pet? Do you enjoy your master’s punishments?”

The sword wielder’s body writhed in agony as the pain increased. During this period of “self inducted coma”, Samuel had improved his ways of torturing Leonardo; taking advantage of his weakened mental state, he took over his mind. It was a perfect way to inflict damage to the already broken turtle but not perfect enough to control his physical frame completely. However, Samuel had made a great job weakening Leonardo’s mind so he could not use his body at will no matter how long he stayed without his supervision.

“Have you learned your lesson now, mindless animal? Will you disobey me again?” Samuel asked, never stopping the cruel torture session.

Leonardo could barely shake his head but the forced move was enough to please Flynn. The torture finished leaving a panting turtle still pinned to the dark walls. 

Samuel smiled cruelly at his prisoner. “Tell me, Leonardo, why is that after disobeying me by listening to them you have remained silent? Why is that haven’t you contacted them?”

Leo slowly raised his head up and gave a murderous glare to his captor. “It’s not like I have much of a choice… monster” He hissed. Another wave of pain hit the sword wielder and made him squirm and tore a louder scream from his throat.

“If I were you, I would choose my words wisely” Samuel yelled in anger as he continued to torture Leonardo “You belong to _me!_  And I shall do whatever I wish to do with you, even dispose of your pathetic life!”

This session stopped almost as quickly as it had started; it was truly a relief for the tired turtle but he knew Flynn was far from being done.

“However, I am pleased that you still remember that part of our deal” Flynn continued, using a softer voice now his anger had dissipated. “What was it again?” He asked.

Leo could barely utter words at this point; he struggled to answer Samuel fast or else he would have to face a worse punishment but he had no strength left. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t talk.

“I said… _what_ was it again?!”

The blue-clad ninja felt pain slowly building up in his body again. “N-never  c-contact… my fa-ah! f-family or they… would s-suffer m-my… fate” 

Samuel smiled and caressed the turtle’s head. “Good, my pet. Very good”

 _"I ain't sure if you can hear me right now but I need someone to talk to that ain't Sensei… or Casey”_ The new voice’s sudden appearance took Samuel by surprise but once he recognized it, he smirked evilly. It was time to make Leonardo suffer a little more.

“Hmm, it would appear that your brother Raphael has come to talk to you again. Let us hear what he has to say now, shall we?”

In a matter of seconds, Leo felt how part of his mind was released so he could hear and “see” Raphael from an astral plane. The sight that welcomed the sword wielder wasn’t a pretty one: his hotheaded brother seemed to have aged, the dark circles under his eyes couldn’t be hidden under his crimson colored mask and Leo could almost swear Raph hadn’t been eating properly or simply forgot to do so… or he just didn’t care about his well being anymore.

_"Things ain't right here. You'd be horrified if you could see what we've become"_

“That doesn’t sound good” Samuel chuckled. “The powerful Raphael reduced to a crybaby. If I wasn’t seeing him right now, I wouldn’t believe it”

“Shut up” Leo said under his breath. Unfortunately, his captor had heard him.

A milder wave of pain hit the blue-clad ninja while Flynn began to take over Leo’s senses. The battered turtle started to panic; Raphael’s statement had worried him badly but whatever was happening out there, good or bad, Leo _had_ to know.

“Let me listen to my brother!” Leo yelled almost begging. Flynn looked at him with an arched brow. The sword wielder knew his captor just wanted to humiliate him further. “… please”

“See? It wasn’t so hard” Flynn said with a mocking smile on his face while he restored Leo’s senses again. Raphael’s face came into view once again; it was pretty clear he was struggling to not breakdown before he could finish with his heart wrenching report. 

_"…Donnie, he… he overdosed with painkillers; he's been trying to kill himself several times over the past month._ _Apparently we didn't notice Don's change of attitude because we were so focused on helping Mikey and you… not that I'm blaming you guys…”_

Leonardo felt himself die after he heard that. He could not believe this was what his absence was doing to the mastermind of the Hamato family. He felt tears gathering up in the corner of his eyes when he noticed Raph’s watery ones.

 " _His depression got the best of him and… well, the pills were just there. Donnie told Father he swallowed a bunch of them but got scared and tried to throw up or scream for help but the pain was too… unbearable… it just wouldn't let him say a word. Lucky him Splinter noticed otherwise Don would've…"_

Leonardo flinched. He didn’t really want to picture that in his mind; hearing it was bad enough to make him feel sick. Meanwhile, Samuel paced around the place, smiling, savoring each moment of the young ninja's torment; this kind of torture felt way better than beating and zapping the blue-clad turtle into submission.

_"Splinter thought that shitty experience would be enough to keep him away from trying suicide again but I think he was testing himself, you know? Experimenting how much punishment his body could endure till it finally gave up"_

“Funny, I thought someone as intelligent as Donatello would consider better options than suicide. Not that I care about that, of course”

Pointedly ignoring Flynn’s commentary, Leo reluctantly continued to listen to Raphael. There was a small pause and then, the sword wielder found himself staring straight into his red-clad sibling’s amber eyes while back in the real world, away from the astral plane, Raphael was doing the same but he could only see Leonardo’s closed eyelids. That moment alone made the tortured turtle tear up freely and shamelessly; his brother’s fiery gaze had died, he looked desperate, lonely… and that was just Raph.

What about the other members of his beloved family? Were they as desperate as Raph? Were they feeling lonely too?

_"Wanna know about Mikey now? Well, he's turning into a hothead like me and maybe worse. It won't be long till he starts defying Father. Heck, he already tried to beat the shit outta me earlier!"_

“He would never...”

“Seems like he would, pet. But I believe it is a good change. That stupid innocent look of his didn’t really suit him… at least that’s _my_ humble opinion” Samuel replied, a smirk plastered on his face.

Leo growled low in his throat; if he could only free himself from Flynn’s claws, smiling would be the last thing he’d do. The sound of sad laughter brought Leo’s attention back to his brother, this time the tears were starting to dampen Raph’s mask.

 _"And me? I feel like everyone is expecting a lot from me. They want me to take the hard decisions, to be Don and Mikey's nanny… in other words: they want_ me _to be Leonardo. And because of that, I… I don't know who I am anymore"_ The sai wielder warrior’s voice oozed sorrow and defeat was now present in those amber eyes once full of passion and hope.

The blue-clad ninja clearly felt a lone tear roll down his cheek. “Raphael…”

In a daring move, he tried to fight Samuel’s control and break his barrier in order to contact Raph and give him the so much needed comfort only a big brother could offer, to let him know he could listen to every word he said and he was not talking to a cold, unfeeling carcass. Another wave of pain surprised the blue-clad ninja. In his desperation, he had forgotten about Samuel.

“Nuh-uh~ What did I tell you about trying to make contact?” He said waving his finger “ _no_ ” right in front of Leo’s face.

“Why are you doing this to me? If you want to kill me, just do it and let my family move on with their lives!” The ninja snapped at the sadistic man. “Haven’t they suffered enough already?!”

Flynn rolled his eyes and huffed. “Are you kidding me? They haven’t suffered even half of what _I_ suffered! And why should I put an end to your miserable life quickly when I can slowly torture you and have fun in the process? Besides, your so called _life_ is not enough payment for what your brothers did to me. I want something else, Leonardo”

“Name it… just _fucking_ name it and it’s yours but leave my family out of this!” Leo said, his voice raspy because of all the screaming. 

Just when Flynn was about to carry on with the discussion, Raph’s not so subtle sniffle interrupted him and made Leo focus again on the image the astral plane was showing him.  _"I'm not you, Leo. I'm not the leader this family needs! I can't make Mikey happy, I can't reason with Don anymore… I can't soothe Father's pain…"_

This time, Raph couldn’t contain his tears; he was crying freely and for every tear he shed, Leonardo’s heart shrunk till it hurt. There was something else the leader could notice in his brother’s voice, something unusual; something more than just sadness.

It was fear. Raphael was _scared_.

_'Raph, please don’t do something stupid’_

_"…and I'm definitely not gonna stay here when the responsible for destroying our family is still out there and, God forbid, alive!”_

Leo’s brows furrowed, his brother’s words confused him greatly but also worried him. And that fear he irradiated… that would be normal if it was coming from Donatello and Michelangelo, not that they were scaredy cats but it was easier for them to express their fears openly unlike Raphael and himself.

_'_ _Raph, what are you going to do?!’_

Samuel’s loud laugh interrupted Leo’s train of thoughts. “Just as I expected! Your brother has such great timing, my pet”

Leo looked at his captor and torturer in puzzlement. “What are you talking about?”

“Let’s just say I’ll have to leave you alone from a few hours while I go solve some… unfinished business”

“I… I don’t understand"

The white suited man’s grin was terrifying; whatever he had to say now, it was definitely not going to be good. “You see, dear pet, your brothers never finished the job; they were too weak to kill me… or maybe _too_ honorable… and that was a terrible mistake”

Flynn began to show him his own memories from the last month: The battle for Leonardo’s survival. Raphael’s merciless beating. Raphael’s sai stopping just a few inches before Michelangelo stopped his brother from committing murder. The turtles’ escape and the tigers attacking their master. The hidden gun that had saved him from becoming tiger chow.

The slow and painful process of recovery while he hid from the police.

“All this time I’ve been using you, draining the life out of you. Now that my body is strong once again, I can finally go back to finish what I started and I shall begin with Raphael!” Flynn concluded with a maniacal laugh.

Leonardo’s breathing speeded up as his mind finally tied all the lose knots and came up with a horrible conclusion: Raph was about to avenge his fallen leader and free his family from Flynn’s dark influence once and for all but after a month of no regular training and bad nourishment plus his unstable mental state, he would definitely die in the process or would end up being Flynn’s new subject of God knows what kind of “tests”.

In the worse of cases, Samuel would use Raphael to guide him to the lair, threaten the family to do his will which, eventually, would mean the demise of the Hamato clan and whoever tried to interfere.

Again, the red-clad ninja’s voice could be heard and Leo stopped.

“ _If you'd just wake up right now… I would stop myself from leaving right now, you know? So, how about you humor me and wake up already?"_

Leo squirmed against his binds, slowly then more aggressively as he felt his strength coming back to him. This time Samuel didn’t punish the sword wielder, he laughed at him and his pathetic attempt of escaping his from his clutches.

Suddenly, Leonardo’s trashing stopped when he felt the coldness and the pain leave his body to be replaced by the warmth of a soothing embrace. For a moment he saw himself and his red-clad brother, back in the days when everything was relatively fine, they would share a hug in secret to avoid Mikey’s teasing; some days it’d be a rib crushing hug and other days it’d be a short hug with a pat on the back. 

This one felt different. It felt like Raphael had tried to put all the love he had inside him in one hug and give it to Leonardo so once he woke up, he could share it with the rest of his family now the sai wielder wouldn’t be around anymore.

" _Don't ever blame yourself for this; remember: this was my decision. Love you"_ Leo heard Raph say before he tenderly kissed his forehead goodbye. As soon as Raphael broke the embrace, the warmth abandoned Leonardo’s body.

“No…” He whispered. Then, he gritted his teeth in anger and began to trash wildly against his binds. “RAPH, DON’T GO! RAPHAEL! RAPHAEL, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!”

Flynn laughed. “Yes, Leonardo. Fight me! Wake up and stop me from killing your little brother Raphael. Wake up and spare him from the horrors I’ll make him suffer!”

Try as he might, Leonardo could not fight Flynn’s power; the more he struggled, the more energy he lost.   _ **"RAPHAEL!** ”  _He screamed desperately but it was no use, his brother was gone. He had failed again.

“Raphie… please don’t…”  For some brief seconds the only sound in that dark void was Leo’s sobbing before his torturer’s slow clapping joined it.

“What a show, Leonardo. What a splendid show! But you couldn’t stop Raphael… what a terrible brother you are. Letting him go right to me, right to his death” Flynn mocked him.

Leonardo’s head hung in defeat; tears rolled down his pale green cheeks with no intention to stop anytime soon and began to dampen his mask. Failure. That’s what he was… what his inner self screamed at him, what Samuel made him believe. And to Leonardo, it was all true. He was a failure.

The blue-clad turtle felt Flynn’s walking stick forcing his chin up. Shamelessly, he continued to weep; he willingly allowed his enemy to laugh at his tears, there was no use on acting brave now. Flynn had broken him at last. 

“Who will be next, hmm? Michelangelo or perhaps Donatello? Will finally he achieve his goal and take his own life? Or that senile rat you call _Father_ , even better!”

His brothers… his father. The thought of losing them to Flynn too… 

Then suddenly, something in his mind snapped and Leonardo’s crying stopped. Whatever Samuel was saying he couldn’t hear it anymore, his thoughts were about one thing only: his remaining brothers and Father.  True, he knew his family wasn’t the same since his “coma” but they were still together, still alive. His dark brown eyes opened wide in realization.

“…they… they’re still alive”

If he couldn’t save Raphael, he would at least try to keep the others safe. There was still a little bit of hope left; Leo could still redeem himself.

The sword wielder tried again to reconnect his mind to his body, breaking every barrier Samuel had created. Slowly, a different wave of energy crept up his toes and snaked up through his legs, his torso, his arms; his physical self could now feel the softness of the bed, he could hear the humming of Don’s computers and the smell of various medicines in the infirmary.

It was time.

“…and you, Leonardo, you will be responsible for all those deaths!” Samuel concluded feeling victorious.

“ENOUGH!”

With a firm yank, Leo broke free, _front flipped_  and landed a heel on  _the_  head of Flynn sending him to ground automatically. “I am sick of you, you hear me? SICK! All this time I kept my word so you would stop hurting my family and hurt _me_ instead… kill _me_ if you wanted to! But now you crossed the line and I will not be yours to control anymore!”

Still dizzy by the sudden attack, Flynn got on his knees. Leo stood his ground, ready to fight. The white suited man tried to attack him with the well known electrical wave but he found out the turtle was correct, he was free from his clutches. Samuel could no longer torture him. Or could he? 

Still in all fours, Samuel laughed quietly. “You’re right. I may not be able to control you…” Out of nowhere, a dark tendril appeared behind Leo’s shell and recoiled around his neck tightly. “…but at least I’ll make sure you never wake up again”

The turtle brought his hands to his neck but two more tendrils appeared and tied them up, same thing was happening to his legs. Leo struggled but that only caused the tendrils to tighten more. He was completely restrained and losing air quickly. Flynn grinned and walked towards Leo who gasped for air. The turtle’s eyes were fluttering and his moves were getting sloppy.

“Do not worry, Leonardo. Raphael will join you very soon”

It was the last thing Leo heard before his eyes rolled back in his head and everything went dark.


	34. Chapter 34

The clock ticked down; soon the sun would rise announcing the start of a new day. For Leatherhead this meant he had to get moving to the turtles’ lair, surely Donatello would be waiting for him already to begin with one of the several analyses Leonardo had to go through in his unconscious state. The croc sighed heavily; he just didn’t understand why Leonardo hadn’t woken up yet. All the tests he had run, all the scans and examinations… none of that had given out negative results. In fact, none of that had given out _any_ results at all.

Leonardo was seemingly _fine_.

That statement didn’t apply to his brothers, though. The times Leatherhead had been in the turtles’ household, he had noticed changes in all of them: Raphael had taken Leonardo’s role as the clan leader thus he acted the way his eldest brother and everyone could tell he was doing a great job but even so, the red-clad turtle questioned his abilities daily always claiming to be “not good enough”; Donatello had developed symptoms of depression and Michelangelo’s new dark personality gave everyone the chills.

Perhaps, once all of this was over, Leatherhead would try to help his friends with their personal issues but for now getting Leonardo “back to life” was top priority. With those thoughts in mind, the croc finished packing the equipment he’d be using today and made his way to the turtles’ lair. It wasn’t a long journey since both lairs, his and theirs, were three minutes away from one another.

Everything seemed to be normal from the outside; however things were far from normal once he got inside the turtles’ home. The place was dark, even the infirmary; Splinter and his sons were nowhere to be seen which was odd because at least one of them used to be in the living room at this hour.

“Hello?” Leatherhead’s deep voice echoed through the walls.

When no one came to meet his calling, Leatherhead’s worries increased. He tried to think about what could have possibly happened to his friends. While he walked around the lair, his tail hit a chair by accident knocking it down.

 _"Raph, is that you?”_ A muffled voice came from upstairs followed by the sound of a door being kicked and punched repeatedly. Guided by the muffled curses, Leatherhead walked towards Michelangelo’s room. _"You can’t keep me locked up forever! Open the door already, Raph!”_

Now that was weird. Why would Raphael lock his brother up in his own room? Although according to the circumstances and Mikey’s new attitude, the real question was: why wouldn’t he? Either way, the young ninja _had_ to be freed sooner or later.

The croc unlocked the door and a raging orange-clad turtle came out of the room, head butting him in the stomach but not hard enough to cause any harm. “Michelangelo?”

The latter looked up in shock. “LH? Dude, I’m sorry! I-”

“-Did I come at a bad time?”

“No… maybe. It doesn’t matter now, really” Mikey sighed. “Did you come to check up on Leo?”

“Certainly, my friend. I received a message from Donatello yesterday; he wanted to discuss some notes about Leonardo’s condition and see if there is something we may have not noticed” Leatherhead explained.

Mikey arched a brow. “Isn’t he with Leo?”

“At first I thought he was but there were no lights in the medical bay when I came here” LH explained.

" _Strange, the lights shouldn’t be off. At least not all of them”_ Splinter’s voice came from downstairs. Both LH and Mikey went downstairs to meet the ninja master who was slightly startled by LH’s sudden appearance. “Leatherhead, what a great surprise. What brings you to our home, good friend?” The wise rat greeted.

“He came to see how’s Leo doing and talk to Donnie but I think that last one will have to wait” Mikey answered for his reptilian friend.

“Which brings up a question: where is Donatello?” LH asked.

Splinter’s frown was hard to hide as he recalled last night events in the laboratory with the drunk resident genius but neither Leatherhead nor Michelangelo needed to listen to that right now; he would have to make up a believable excuse. “Donatello was not… feeling well last night so I had to sent him to bed early”

Alright, that was definitely not the best excuse the ninja master could think of but it was far better than the truth.

“Is he sick?” Mikey asked in worry, hoping he didn’t need to see another member of the Hamato clan succumb to a weird illness of some sort.

“It is a long story, my son” Splinter simply said, not wanting the interrogation to continue. “Now, please go wake up Raphael. I believe it is his turn to help me in the kitchen”

Mikey groaned. “Do I really have to?”

Splinter frowned. “Michelangelo, I will not repeat myself!” 

Growling low in his throat and muttering profanities against his second oldest brother, the nunchack wielder slowly walked upstairs. Splinter shook his head; his little innocent Michelangelo had been replaced with this rebellious doppelganger that apparently enjoyed picking fights with Raph and isolating himself from the world, it was the only way Splinter could explain the drastic change the baby of the family had suffered. His presence alone made him nervous, he had to admit.

But maybe it wasn’t that.

Maybe what really made him nervous was the fact that Leatherhead hadn’t taken his eyes off him, his concerned yet knowing deep stare made Splinter feel uneasy; even so, the ninja master remained calmed.

“With all due respect, Master Splinter, your explanation of Donatello’s absence was quite poor” Leatherhead broke the awkward silence.

Splinter chuckled half heartedly. “My son _did_ say you had a keen mind that could not be so easily fooled”

The giant reptile put a comforting claw on the rodent’s shoulder; he did notice the slight flinch that came after his touch but said nothing, although it shocked him to see how vulnerable Splinter was at the moment. He couldn’t blame him; a father can only take so much suffering.

“Master Splinter, I am aware this family has not been the same for a while; you don’t need to hide anything from me. I’m sure I could be of aid to you” LH said as gently as he could.

Splinter knew Leatherhead was right; there was no need to keep this to himself, not when he was unsure of what to say and what to do at the moment. Leatherhead was family just like April and Casey, he could be trusted and his presence now was really needed. The ninja master let out the lungful of air he had been holding. No more stalling, he had to save at least one of his sons. The moment Splinter opened his mouth, Michelangelo’s alarmed calling stopped the words from coming out.

“Sensei, Raph’s not here! His weapons and shell-cell are gone and I can’t find his bike’s keys!” 

“Call Mr. Jones; perhaps your brother is with him”  

“Perhaps it’d be better if I go see Leonardo first before our conversation about Donatello” LH suggested.

Splinter nodded. “Feel free to call us if you need assistance, my friend”

Leatherhead grabbed his bag and walked to the medical bay with a worried expression on his face; so far things were just plain bad in the lair: Donatello wasn’t taking care of Leo, Michelangelo had been locked up in his room for some unknown reason and now Raphael was missing. The gears in the croc’s mind turned; so many questions, so many problems in so little lapse of time… not the mention the little voice in his head that screamed at him things were about to get even worse.

Back in the living room, Splinter paced nervously gripping his walking stick tighter than usual; he debated with himself about either yes or not should he wake up Donatello. With LH busy checking up on Leo, there was no one else who could track Raph down with such precision and efficiency other than the resident genius but maybe he was still suffering the aftermath of his little alcohol treatment.

 _“Raphael, where are you?”_ Splinter sent the mental message to his red-clad son, hoping he would miraculously get it. _“Please, return to us. You are needed here now more than ever”_

Splinter was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Michelangelo running downstairs to announce the bad news. “Sensei, Casey hasn’t left April’s place _or_ seen Raph. He had April call him a few minutes ago but he’s not answering!” The young ninja said, looking clearly distressed.

“MASTER SPLINTER, MICHELANGELO! COME QUICK!” Leatherhead desperate cries came from the infirmary.

Michelangelo and Master Splinter flew to attend the croc’s alarmed calling. The scene that welcomed them wasn’t a pretty one: half of Leatherhead’s massive body leaned over Leonardo; the croc’s giant hands pressed the unconscious turtle’ chestplate in a firm but steady rhythm in an attempt to get his heart beating once again. The flat line in the heart rate monitor and the loud _“beep”_ sound coming from it indicated just one thing: Leonardo’s body had given up.

However, Leatherhead refused to lose his friend and worked hard to get even the slightest pulse.

While he did the compressions he could hear a couple of crack sounds; probably from some broken ribs but none of that mattered now. Leonardo couldn’t just die, not after all what he, Donatello and his family had done to keep him alive. In a split second, Mikey and the ninja master appeared at the door. Splinter stared at the scene open mouthed; his eldest son looked so… lifeless. The ninja master couldn’t believe Leonardo was finally succumbing to Death’s bony touch and prayed to all his known deities that Leatherhead could bring him back.

“Leo!” Mikey cried out in anguish. “Leatherhead, what’s happening to him?”

“When I first got here, his heart rate was off the charts. Now it just… it stopped all of the sudden!” LH informed while checking Leo’s pulse for the third time, still finding nothing.

It was no use, CPR was doing no good but there was another thing LH could do. The croc quickly grabbed a syringe full of epinephrine and jammed it in Leo’s chest, hoping it would reach his heart. He waited while pressing an overgrown finger against the turtle’s neck.

Nothing. There was nothing else that could be done now but embrace reality: Leonardo was dead.

“Master Splinter, Michelangelo… he…”

“DON’T STOP!”

LH jumped back startled by the orange-clad turtle’s cries. “Michelangelo, I am sorry but-”

“-You can’t just let him die! He’s fought so hard and now you… YOU JUST GIVE UP ON HIM?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH-”

“-My son, calm down!” Splinter said firmly. “Leatherhead, please… you must keep trying”

Although exhausted, LH nodded and returned to the task at hand. The ninja master then turned to his distressed son. “Michelangelo, bring Donatello immediately!”

Mikey didn’t need to be told twice; right after his father gave out the order, he was out of the lab running upstairs as fast as his legs could take him and by Donatello’s door in less than a second. Sprawled in the bed lied the genius turtle; covers at his feet, his gear carelessly resting in the floor and drool wetting his pillow. In other circumstances, Mikey would have teased his purple-clad brother about the mess in his room but right now teasing would have to wait.

“Don! Don, wake up!” Mikey called at his brother desperately, shaking him roughly.

“Five more minutes, mom” Don mumbled.

“Leo doesn’t have five more minutes!” Mikey replied angrily. “WAKE UP, DAMMIT!”

The nunchack wielder continued to shake Donatello but the only thing he got was a drooled pillow thrown at his face by a cranky, sleepy turtle. Blinded by anger, Michelangelo grabbed the wooden bo staff leaning on Don’s drawer and hit his genius brother in the head causing said turtle to yell in pain and to finally wake up from his deep, alcohol induced slumber.

“What the… ow, my head!” Don moaned, rubbing his temples. “What happened?”

“LEO STOPPED BREATHING, WE NEED YOU DOWNSTAIRS!”

Don’s eyes opened like saucers. “LEO WHAT?!”

* * *

**Raph’s POV**

…

 

After hours of driving, I’m finally here: Michigan.

My tail hurts like a bitch after sitting on the bike for so long. Can’t feel my hands, my legs or the rest of my body but there ain’t time for petty complains. Flynn must be found; he has to pay for what he did even if that means I have to die with him in the process.

Didn’t have to wander around too much to find Flynn’s horrid place, I just had to follow the police’s sirens. Those are both good and bad news. Sure I found the place but with the cops around I won’t have any chance to strike without creating some commotion which would get me caught and revealed to the world… and God knows what else. Things would have been different if I had come at night; at least the shadows could have protected me.

Before someone sees me, I climb a tree with more than enough leaves and branches to hide me. Now I wait for an opportunity to start searching. To my surprise more cops arrived, some of them with dogs.

Fuck. Another problem to add to my list.Twice those dogs have smelled and growled at the tree that protects me; luckily the officers were either too distracted or not interested on their dogs’ behavior and forced them to keep searching in other direction. And now my shell-cell’s vibrating.

Funny, I don’t remember why I brought it with me in the first place and yet here it is… in the right pocket of my black leather jacket. I knew sooner or later someone would notice my absence and then I would start receiving calls from a worried Splinter, a nervous April or a pissed off Casey. I ain’t expecting calls from Donatello; I had to carry his drunk ass to bed after all and Mikey… Mikey and I ain’t the best of friends right now.

Wow, who would’ve thought huh? Mikey declared me his sworn enemy and Donnie is drowning that big brain of his in sake.

If I died today, I guess I would never rest in peace knowing I left things so messed up back home. But you know what? I’m ok with that. I gladly welcome an afterlife full of penance, if there is one, in exchange for my family’s peace and sanity.

My phone keeps vibrating. I glance at the name on the screen. _April O’Neil._ Sorry April. Not this time. I press the red button, killing the call.

Maybe I should turn off this thing so I won’t get interrupted or tempted to answer one of the numerous calls I know I’ll be receiving later but for some weird reason, I leave the shell-cell on. The phone vibrates again and I press the red button a second time. Why are they calling me anyway? Is there trouble back home? Has Leo finally woken up?

Has Leo died at last?

I feel a cold breeze hit me on the back of my neck; I _must_ stop thinking like that. Leonardo is fine. My whole family is fine… or at least they will be after today.

April calls me again.

Fuck, this ain’t gonna stop anytime soon. Is it?

* * *

 

**Don’s POV**

…

 

My head hurts.

I can’t remember what happened after my first shot or how the hell I ended up in my bedroom but my mouth tastes horribly and I feel nauseous. Ok… maybe I _do_ remember bits of what happened yesterday and I believe I did something stupid.

I remember Raph coming in, Splinter’s voice, Leo’s face being poked? Aw hell! Did I actually poke Leo’s face? Oh, the wonders of alcohol.

“Don! Don, wake up!”

Is that Mikey?

Hey, hey! No need to be rough! Damned kid is shaking me like a ragdoll… or at least he tries considering I’m sprawled out on the bed.

“Five more minutes, mom” Did I just say that? Wow, I guess I’m still drunk.

“Leo doesn’t have five more minutes! WAKE UP, DAMMIT!”

NOT. SO. LOUD! MY HEAD IS EXPLODING! I throw a pillow at him which makes me feel a little better; that will teach him not to… Wait a sec… did he say something about Leo?

Just when I’m about to abandon dreamland, something hits me hard in the head. My headache has gone from bad to worse.

“What the… ow, my head! What happened?”

“LEO STOPPED BREATHING, WE NEED YOU DOWNSTAIRS!”

“LEO WHAT?!”

I tried to convince himself this is just a dream, a nightmare. That I would wake up soon and everything would go back to normal but… I am awake already and the throbbing pain in my head is a great reminder of that. Seeing there was nothing I could do but accept things as they are I jumped off the bed and followed by a clearly distressed Michelangelo, I ran straight to the lab.

I wish I could offer my baby brother some comfort but right now, Leo needs me the most. Splinter or Raph can take care of Mikey. Speaking of Raph, where the hell is he? Hasn’t he woken up with all this commotion? Is he already at the lab, yelling to a lifeless Leonardo to stop playing games and come back to life already?

So many questions left unanswered; those will also have to wait in line. First things first.

When I arrived to the laboratory, I saw Leatherhead and my father already there.

“LH-”

“-pleasantries will have to wait, Donatello. We are losing your brother!” He said urgently, signaling with his head at the heart rate machine.

Leo’s pulse is weak but still there. I don’t understand, I thought he’d be dead by now… not that I actually want that. I guess LH sensed my confusion because he turned his attention back to me once again.

“I managed to bring him back but we’re losing him again!”

No. I won’t let that happen. Headache and all, I must go into doctor mode. “Keep up with the compressions! Mikey, grab the bag valve mask. Inside that cabinet”

I would have preferred to perform mouth to mouth maneuver instead since I think is more efficient but for obvious reasons, I can’t use mine so I’ll settle for the valve mask.

“Anything else we can do, Donnie?” Oh Mikey, I wish you could. I shake my head and my heart breaks when I hear him sob; I know he’s as desperate as I am to help Leo but LH and I are more capable of doing that.

Besides, even if Mikey _could_ help us, he’s way too nervous and scared right now to think properly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m scared myself but years of being the family doctor have prepared me for this and more so I can keep my emotions at bay.

“Do not stop the resuscitation. Michelangelo, come with me” I hear Splinter say.

“But Sensei, Leo’s dying! We can’t just leave him!” Mikey replies.

When Splinter didn’t reply back, I knew he was giving my brother one of his deep, serious stares; Splinter wasn’t asking Mikey to accompany him, he was _ordering_ him. With the corner of my eye I saw Mikey glancing at Leo’s still form one last time before joining Splinter outside. Now I can work in peace.

I still have no knowledge of Raphael’s whereabouts but I just hope he’s back soon. For now, I just keep pumping air into Leo and silently praying.

Damn! It’s not working… we’re losing him again!

Please Leo, don’t die now. If this is because of what I did last night, then I’m sorry! I’m deeply sorry!

Please, please big brother!

Don’t leave us!

Don’t leave me!

* * *

 

**Raph’s POV**

…

 

Three hours.

It's been three hours after the first twenty calls from April. Three hours of not answering those calls. Three hours of watching cops come and go. Why the cops won’t take a break already? They’ve been here for hours!

As if on cue, I see a dark haired officer with thick and perfectly trimmed mustache approaching his young brown haired partner.

_“Hey John! The guys and I are gonna go grab some grub. Wanna come?”_

_“We’re not supposed to move from here, Ed”_

_“C’mon, I don’t think that scumbag is gonna show up anytime soon. ‘Sides, it’ll be for half an hour! What could possibly happen?”_

_“You just had to say that, didn’t you”_

_“You coming or not, man? Oh and just for the record, there are tacos involved~”_

_“… alright but_ you’re _buying!”_

I see the cops leaving and I can’t help but smile. Perfect timing, Ed.

And now, to find that son of a bitch Flynn.

Once I triple checked there were no more cops around, slowly and carefully  _I lowered myself_  down from branch to branch until I reached the grassy ground. And what do you know! Shell-cell’s vibrating once again. This time it ain’t April’s number, it’s Casey’s.

I guess I better pick up to put an end to those fucking calls once and for all.

“Make it quick”

 _“You better have a great explanation to leave the lair for a fucking morning stroll, you_ dumbass _!”_ Casey’s angry voice came from the other side of the line.

“Calm your tits, Case-man. I’m in the middle of something here and no, I don’t need backup”

 _“Oh yeah? Well I got news for you, while you’re in the middle of_ something _, the guys are worrying their asses off about you and your disappearing acts! The least you could’ve done was answer your_ fucking _phone!”_

I chuckle sadly. “Can’t do that, pal. Not this time… not ever again” The silence between us is eternal, at least looks like it to me. Something tells me Casey already knows what’s happening.

 _“Where are you?”_ He asks pausing slightly between words.

“Nowhere you can find me”

_“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?”_

“I think you know the answer already”

 _“Don’t tell me you…”_ Oh sweet realization.I hear Casey sigh deeply; he’s fighting to contain his anger. _“… for_ Christ _sake, Raph! What do you think you’re doing going after Flynn?!”_

“I have to do this alone, Casey. There is no other way” I simply explain.

 _“You_ do _realize you could die, don’t you?”_ No shit, Sherlock.

“At least I’ll take that bastard with me”

 _“Raph… tell me your location_ now _”_ He demands but I’m silent. _“TELL ME YOUR_ FUCKING _LOCATION, NOW!”_ He insists but his voice changed… he’s not angry anymore.

He’s desperate and I dare to say he’s also scared. I can’t keep this up. "I gotta go, Casey. Nice talking to you and… uh… you know, sorry for whatever shit I did to you in the past and all that jazz”

 _“Raphael, don’t you_ fucking dare _hang up now!”_

I freeze.

My finger is right above the red button but just I can’t bring myself to press it. Dammit Casey, what do you want? Nothing you say will make me go back home! Not when I’m so close to Flynn.

I can feel it.

Casey’s voice distracts me from my thoughts.

_“Listen, I ain’t gonna tell you to stop or come back but… don’t give up so easily, bro. What if Leo wakes up just to find out you’re gone forever because you tried to avenge him? That blow could kill him and your sacrifice would’ve been in vain”_

You know… that actually made sense.

No! Focus Raph! You’re here for a reason: you’ll kill Flynn and if you have to die so be it.

 _“I’m asking you… no,_ begging _you… if you’re gonna fight this son of a bitch, come back_ alive _. Please! For your family, your friends… for_ Leo _”_

That was a low blow and Casey fucking knows it. He knows I’d do everything for them… my family… my friends… Leo. “I… I really gotta go now”

I quickly end the call before he says something else. I have to give him credit for trying, though. Before someone else decides to call me, I turn off the phone and put it back into my jacket’s pocket.

Suddenly, I feel a strange coldness on my back. The air carries a smell of decay… it’s so putrid I almost throw up. I also feel eyes.

Someone’s looking at me.

Someone is… behind me.

“I hope you enjoyed your last call, Raphael”

That voice.

“Trust me… you won’t be making another one once I’m done with your pathetic existence”

Finally, I will put an end to this. I turn around and what I see shocks me yet makes me happy in a dark and twisted way. “You”

 


	35. Chapter 35

Green eyes glanced at the beeping alarming clock on the drawer. April groaned; just when she thought she could finally have a decent sleep, her alarm decided to burst her bubble and get her off the bed. The red haired woman sat upright and glanced at her snoring partner. After years of being together, she still didn’t understand how the annoying alarm couldn’t wake Casey up but when the turtles, mostly Raph, slightly tapped at her window, he was wide awake right after the first tap.

She pressed the snooze button, stretched her arms and kissed her boyfriend’s forehead before leaving the warm bed as stealthily as she could; last night was the first night in a moth Casey could sleep without waking up because of the constant nightmares. April could hear him mumbling stuff in his sleep, cursing the man who had hurt their special friends. More than once she had to wake him up and calm him down. Casey wouldn’t remember any of that the next morning but April wasn’t so lucky. She had to suffer for the both of them, in silence.

Passing through the kitchen, April stopped by the fridge and after looking at the items inside for ten minutes she yawned and closed the door, making a mental note to buy more groceries later today.

The red haired woman grabbed the remote and turned on the news before slumping heavily on the couch; she chortled at the anchorwoman’s facelift and exaggerated breast implants. Briefly, she glanced down her shirt; she was proud of her decent size and Casey seemed to like that as well. With the corner of her eye she saw her sleepy boyfriend dragging his feet to the couch. He sat beside her and pulled her close to him.

“Morning babe” He mumbled, kissing the top of April’s head. “How long have you been up?”

“Just a couple of minutes, I guess. You hungry?”

“Like a bear but you ain’t moving a finger. I’m cooking today” Casey said making his way to the kitchen. “Eggs, toast and bacon? Or maybe pancakes! Mikey’s been teaching me”

April repressed a laugh; she sure remembered those messy lessons. “That’s so sweet but I’ll just have some coffee, thanks”

Casey shook his head. “I dunno who’s worse: you or Donnie”

“I think I’ll say… both”

April’s phone started ringing; Donatello’s number appeared on the screen. “And speaking of the devil” She smiled, pressing the button to answer the call. “Hi Donnie”

The woman’s relaxed expression instantly changed into a puzzled one after hearing the worried tone of the genius turtle’s voice. “No, he hasn’t come here. I thought he was………… well yes, Casey’s here but…………… Oh god, no”

“What’s wrong?” The vigilante asked.

“Raph’s not in the lair”

“Son of a bitch!” He yelled, his fist impacting with a nearby wall. “Doesn’t he know it’s like 8 am?! It’s bright enough outside to get him discovered and maybe even killed!”

“Sorry Donnie, what was that?” April turned her attention back to her phone and her face paled after hearing more bad news.

Casey, on the other hand, was furious; furious at Raph, furious at himself, furious at the random fly that landed on his clenched fist, furious at the world around him. He turned off the stove, his eggs and bacon completely forgotten and ran to the bedroom to pick some clothes.

 _‘Raph better be hidin’ well’_ He thought. _‘Cuz when I find him, he’s fucked!’_

“CALM DOWN?” He heard April yelled from the living room. “DONATELLO, HOW CAN YOU………….”

The vigilante peeked outside the bedroom to check on April; she was breathing deeply, trying to not make a scene while she listened to Don dictating instructions.

“Alright………………. yeah, I have those………… Don’t worry, Don. We’ll be there in a sec”

“Something else happened?”

“It’s Leo. LH and Don are trying to bring him back but he’s not responding!” She informed; her eyes clouded with unshed tears.

The blue eyed man let the shirt he was going to wear slip off his fingers, his mouth agape in shock. April covered her mouth stifling a sob and Casey approached her but before he could comfort his beloved, she fled to her room and dressed herself in record time; there would be time for comforting affection later. The vigilante seemed to have read her mind so he continued to get dressed, glancing at April from time to time just in case of a breakdown.

Once both humans were ready, they ran downstairs and prepared the equipment Donatello had required.

“We need to get there and fast. Also, we have to try to communicate with Raph; Donnie already tried to contact him but it’s not working”

“I’ll drive” Casey said, jumping to the driver’s seat. “You call that asshole and tell him to get his ass back home right now”

April nodded and fastened her seat belt. _‘And this was supposed to be a quiet morning’_ She thought sadly as she dialed Raph’s number.

Casey started engines and soon enough, the human couple was on their way to the Hamato household. Hopefully, things wouldn’t get worse but sadly, they were both mistaken.

This was just the beginning of what would be a day full of surprises.

 

* * *

  
 

Mikey couldn’t focus, plain and simple. And neither could he understand how Splinter could be so calm adopting his meditation pose after seeing Leonardo dying once then coming back just to struggle some more. “Sensei, why are we here? We should be helping Donnie and LH!”

The ninja master opened his eyes to gaze at his troubled son. Although he also felt the urge to be by Leonardo’s side, he knew that Donatello and Leatherhead were more than capable of keeping Leonardo’s body working long enough for Splinter to reach his eldest son’s spirit and hopefully, he would wake up at last.

“My son, like your brothers you have faced many foes and came across obstacles during your life as ninja and what happened on Samuel Flynn’s mansion is just another one. You have been able to overcome those obstacles before, Michelangelo, with your innocence, laughter and hope. But ever since you returned from that place, you have changed and Flynn has taken advantage of that”

“What do you mean?”

“I could feel Flynn inside your brother’s mind every time I tried to reach him” Splinter explained. “He is the one forcing your brother to block our connection; he has been torturing him, using your pain and guilt to create chains and barriers to keep him trapped inside his mind. Right now, Leonardo is too weak to break those alone and we must help him but for that, I will need you to focus”

Mikey sighed and tried again. He closed his remaining eye, slowly breathing in and out while he cleaned his mind from dark thoughts and painful memories. The capture, the beatings, the torture sessions, Leonardo’s sacrifices … everything was coming back altogether as Mikey tried to establish his own link with his brother’s mind, making the task twice as difficult.

“Focus Michelangelo, clear your mind” The young turtle heard his father say in a soothing voice, almost like a whisper.

However, the more Mikey tried, the more his memories came to haunt him. “I can’t do this, Master Splinter” He said, his eyes still closed.

“You must, my son. You are the only one who can help your brother return” Splinter replied.

“I can’t help him after what I did to him!” Mikey replied angrily. “You weren’t there; you didn’t see Leo almost dying because of me! When Flynn made me attack him, I… I felt like I was…”

_“Betraying him? Is that so?”_

A cold breeze hit Mikey straight in the face and sound of a bone chilling laughter made his open his eyes but he immediately regretted doing it. He saw himself, sword in hand and a sinister smile on his face staring down at a bleeding, lifeless looking Leonardo. The _other_ Michelangelo turned his attention to a horrified Mikey and his smile widened.

 _“Flash news, kid… you did”_ He said in a demonic voice.

“No… no, I couldn’t… I… I-I didn’t want to hurt him! I swear!” 

“My son, Leonardo knows you would never hurt him on purpose” Splinter’s voice could be heard again but the aged rat was nowhere in sight.

“Father… Father, where are you?!”

“You need to forget whatever Flynn told you. Most importantly, you need to forgive yourself, my son” The voice continued.

 _“Yes, forgive yourself… that will surely bring your pathetic brother back so you can get him killed again!”_ The _other_ Mikey said mockingly.

 “LEAVE ME ALONE! I KNOW I SCREWED UP, ALRIGHT?!” Mikey screamed. His voice echoed through the dark void yet it failed to scare away the dark presence standing before him. “I ruined everything by being so naïve” Mikey continued. “I thought Flynn would just let us go; I believed him but no… he had to trap ALL OF US! Now Donnie is miserable, Raph hates me, Splinter is tired he could die any moment now and Leo is dead!” He sobbed; falling to his knees and covering his face in his hands.

The other Mikey grinned like a mad man at the turtle’s despair. Unnoticed by the real Mikey, his dark doppelganger had begun to morph; the green skin turned pale and the shell was gone, the once muscular arms and legs disappeared to reveal bony limbs. Lastly, dark tendrils came to wrap around the naked slim body completely covering the head which was the only part that hadn’t changed yet.

After a few seconds, the tendrils recoiled back revealing Samuel Flynn.

 _“And whose fault is it, little one?”_ He hissed, still using the _other_ Mikey’s demonic voice.

“It’s all my fault… it’s all my fault…” Mikey whimpered. “I’m so sorry, Leo”

The man grinned down at the crying turtle while he prepared to jam the sword deep into Mikey’s skull. _“Don’t worry, Michelangelo. He will forgive you… in the other life”_

Mikey’s sobs stopped abruptly after hearing the abrupt change of voice. He glanced up and his face paled in horror. “You!”

* * *

 

"You"

Flynn smirked at the red-clad turtle’s shocked face. “So, you made it. You finally found me. Bravo, bravo indeed Raphael!”

“Yeah well, I’m kinda regretting it now I see you. You look like a pile of dog shit”

Truth to be told, that statement wasn’t enough to describe Flynn’s actual state. The once white suit was torn, stained with blood, dirt and what it appeared to be bits of flesh; part of his legs and left arm had been partially mauled by the tigers before he got a chance to shot them dead, it was surprising how he could stand in such conditions; his face had four nasty gashes that hadn’t healed quite well and his beard was longer. The walking stick with the emerald that held Mikey’s eye inside on top of it remained undamaged and it was the only thing keeping Samuel balanced.

“Always the charmer, aren’t you Raphael” Flynn chuckled. “How is your brother, the little one hmm? Having problems finding a pair of nice glasses? How about the genius, did he finally go nuts? And Leonardo… your beloved leader… is he enjoying his nap?”

Raph growled. “You should know that, motherfucker. It’s your fault he’s…he’s…”

“He’s… he’s… he is what! Say already, freak! What, too painful? Does little Raphie miss his big brother? What do you miss about him, hmm? His voice, always ordering what to and what not to do? His eyes, looking at you in disapproval!”

The sai wielder was a little taken aback by Flynn’s words; he had heard those before, he said them to Leo one night during a heart to heart talk. So many things had been said, some good and some bad but more bad than good. Raph would never forget the look on his brother’s face when he listed the things he hated about him and the countless times he had wished for his death; he looked disappointed and hurt but in the end those were all meaningless words spoken out of rage, not really from the heart.

But how did Samuel know about that?

“Listen, I dunno who the fuck told you that but none of that is true. You’re just messing with my head!”

“Am I, Raphael? Am I really lying? Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t say all those things to Leonardo”

The sai wielder met Samuel’s eyes but he couldn’t hold his gaze, soon enough he found himself staring at his feet in shame but never letting his guard down. He heard Flynn laugh and he gritted his teeth; clearly he was laughing at his moment of weakness, laughing at his despair… laughing at him.

“Tell me, boy… why are you here? Why is it that you need to avenge Leonardo so badly? Don’t you hate him? Don’t you want him dead? Or…” Samuel’s sinister smile widened. “…maybe you don’t want him dead because then you wouldn’t have someone to be your bitch, is that it Raphael?”

Raph stumbled back as if hit by someone. “What the fuck are you talking about!”

“Even better, if he dies then you would be nobody’s bitch! So that’s why you’re so upset! Oh that is so romantic” Flynn cackled. “Tell me, was it good? Did you enjoy being your brother’s bitch?”

That did it. The red-clad ninja pulled out his sai and charged at Samuel full speed, his mind clouded with rage. “SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU SICK MOTHERFUCKER!”

The man stood his ground, unfazed by the ninja’s outburst. With a quick thrust, Raphael’s sais found home into… a tree? A tap on his shoulder had him turning around to see Samuel standing behind him, waving hello in a childish way.

“What the-”

“Funny thing about being inside a ninja’s mind, you can learn a lot of their secrets…including tear-jerking late night talks with a brother. Care for a demonstration?”

Raphael yanked his sais from the tree trunk in a single move. As he turned to face the reason of his family’s suffering, dark and twisted thoughts began to poison his mind: Flynn’s dismembered body at his feet, the sensation of feeling his warm blood as he plunged his beloved weapons deep into the man’s flesh. Raph’s inner demons had been waiting for a chance to have fun and today, they would have it.

“Bring it on, asshole”

* * *

 

Back in Leo’s mind, Flynn touched Mikey’s forehead with the tip of the sword; the temptation of stabbing the small turtle becoming irresistible by the second. “Hello, Michelangelo. Missed me?” He asked sweetly. “I missed you”

“…M…ik…ey”

The orange-clad ninja almost hurt his neck while turning his head at the sound of the familiar voice calling his name. Lying in a corner of the dark room, there was Leonardo; his body was wrapped in dark tendrils that kept squeezing the air out of him like a boa would do with its meal.

Flynn rolled his eyes. “Oh for goodness sake, are you still alive?” He walked towards the blue-clad turtle, swinging the sword skillfully. While Samuel approached Leo, Mikey watched the display petrified. Samuel was alive, his brother was alive… or at least his spirit was. But how could this be?

“Your stubbornness is not amusing anymore” Flynn spat venomously. “You stopped being fun a month ago, Leonardo!”

Mikey opened his eyes wide in realization. _‘Master Splinter was right!’_

Slow but steady, Samuel made it to the dying turtle. Leonardo’s breathing was shallow and his eyes were closing; he hoped Samuel would ‘play’ with him a little more so Mikey would escape on time but apparently, the man was genuinely bored of him. His death would be quick.  

“I’m tired of this game, dear pet so I think we can both agree it’s time for you to die!”

Flynn raised the sword and Leo closed his eyes. _‘Mikey, please leave now!’_

The man lowered the sword and a loud _‘clang’_ echoed through the room; both Leo and Flynn gasped when they saw Mikey stopping the sword with the chain of his nunchuks.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!”  

Flynn huffed. “Fine, you can have him for some minutes. I have to be elsewhere anyway… but I’ll be back for him and if you’re not gone, you’ll die too”

With that said, Samuel vanished into thin air and so did the tendrils that drained the life out of Leo; the sword wielder took a big gulp of air once he was released but he still couldn’t move his limbs. His eyes fluttered and his head lulled to the side where he caught a glimpse of a sea green, orange masked turtle; that sight alone prevented him from surrendering to sleep but this proved to be a difficult task for the dying turtle.

Mikey tucked his weapons in his belt and knelt beside his blue-clad brother. “Leo? Leo, look at me please!”

“I’m… I’m … tired” Leo whispered; his eyes starting to close again.

“Nononono! Don’t fall sleep, please don’t fall sleep!”

The faint warmth of Mikey’s hands on his shoulders and the desperate tone of his voice didn’t do much to keep Leo awake but it kept him slightly conscious. “Mikey… how…”

“Splinter helped me” He replied hurriedly. “He came along too but I can’t see him anywhere”

Leo nodded. “M-Mikey, you must …leave now. He’ll come… he’ll come after you”

“No, I won’t let you down again!” Mikey said firmly.

“Let me down again? Mikey, what are you-”

“-Sensei said if I can forgive myself you’ll be free from Flynn’s control but he’s wrong. I need _you_ to forgive me, Leo. I need you to forgive me for getting you and the others into this!”

The young turtle stared deeply into the eldest’s dark brown eyes waiting for the so desired forgiveness but his world crumbled completely after two words left Leonardo’s mouth. “I can’t”

“What?!”

“I can’t forgive you, Mikey… because there’s nothing to forgive”

“Are you crazy?! Just look at you! You’re dying, you’ve been dying all this month and it’s all because of me!” 

Leo’s brow furrowed. “Don’t fall for that, bro. Flynn used that one on me too”

“You don’t understand! It’s because of _me_ Flynn has you trapped here! I don’t need him to tell me what I already know!”

“Mikey, just listen to me!”

“If you’re not going to forgive me then hurt me! Beat me to a pulp! KILL ME IF YOU MUST, JUST DO SOMETHING!”

“MICHELANGELO, THAT’S ENOUGH!”

The orange-clad turtle whimpered and backed away from Leonardo, covering his face and waiting from whatever punishment he considered proper. He peeked between his fingers and saw his big brother crawling towards him, grunting occasionally because of the pain.

When he felt Leo’s hand on his shoulder, he sobbed and shook violently.

 _‘Stop being such a pussy. You deserve whatever he does to you’_ He scolded himself in his mind.

Cold arms pulled Mikey close to another being and a slightly warm chin rested on top of his head. The young turtle looked up to see Leonardo, beaten and weak but still alive, trying to comfort him the best he could. 

“Remember when you gave up your eye for me? You said you did it out of love; what I did is the same thing. I chose to stay here for you, guys. I didn’t want Samuel to hurt you like he hurt me” Leo explained, moving a thumb over Mikey’s wet cheek in slow soothing circles.

The latter stopped shaking and gradually relaxed in his brother’s arms instead. “What did he do to you?”

“It’s best you don’t know for now but if I didn’t lock myself in, he would’ve killed you all” Leo continued. “It was my choice to make, not his! Whatever he told you, whatever he made you believe it’s not true. You must forgive yourself, little brother”

“This is not my fault” He whispered, his eyes closed. “This is not my fault”

“Louder, Mikey” Leo encouraged him.

“This is not my fault!” Mikey said a little louder this time.

As the young ninja continued to repeat this mantra, the darkness around both turtles slowly disappeared; the tendrils recoiled escaping from the blinding light and those that didn’t make it were burned and reduced to charcoal.

“Michelangelo, open your eyes” Leo ordered.

Hesitantly, the orange-clad ninja’s blue eyes opened to witness the destruction of the nightmarish world that slowly pretended to take over Leonardo’s mind. The nunchack wielder finally understood: during the time Samuel had them captive he had tried to get inside their minds, control them and destroy them until there was nothing left but a cold carcass. Leonardo had resisted the best he could but after protecting his baby brother countless times from the man’s attempts to break him, his mind had weakened just enough for Flynn to get inside and control it but in his obsession to break the leader, he had forgotten about Mikey.

Big mistake.

Splinter always said Michelangelo had a special light inside of him, a light that grew stronger every time his family was suffering or in danger which was the case right now.

He held the key to save his brother.

It was his time to shine.

“I didn’t do this! It was all your fault, Samuel Flynn!” Pulling away from Leo’s embrace, Mikey stood tall beside his brother and filled his lungs with air. “DO YOU HEAR ME, FLYNN?! I WILL NOT FALL FOR YOUR TRICKS AGAIN! THIS IS NOT MY FAULT! **THIS. IS. NOT. MY. FAULT**!”

Mikey’s scream was the last push the light needed to illuminate the entire place, destroying any creature that tried to hide from it. Now the shadows were gone, Mikey and Leo could finally see Splinter waiting at the end of what it looked like a large corridor.

“MICHELANGELO, LEONARDO!” The ninja master called urgently. “COME QUICK! I CANNOT KEEP THIS PASSAGE OPEN FOR MUCH LONGER!”

Draping an arm around Leo’s waist, Mikey helped him to stand on his feet and although his knees threatened to give up, the leader managed to not fall down.

“Hang on tight, Leo. I’m getting you out of here”

* * *

  
 

Don paced nervously around the lab. Leos’ vital signs weren’t stable and neither was his breathing; the purple-clad turtle almost lost it when Leo’s heart stopped a second time after Leatherhead’s attempts to reanimate him and he feared his brother wouldn’t resist a third time.

Footsteps approaching the lab stopped his pacing and had him lifting his gaze off the floor to welcome a preoccupied Casey.

“Were you able to contact Raph?”

Casey nodded hesitantly. “You better sit down, Don. What I’m gonna say ain’t pretty”

“Just tell me, Case”

“...Raph went to face Flynn”

"WHAT!? Is he fucking stupid?! How the... and…right now?! Right _fucking_ now?!” Donatello spat.

April and Leatherhead stared at the purple-clad turtle in worry; their most sensible, cool minded friend was losing it quickly and this new bit of information was the last thing he needed to hear and nothing they could say would help him relax. Don grabbed a nearby chair, sat heavily on it and ran a hand over his face before putting it over his mouth. This had to be a nightmare, a nightmare worse than the ones he had after coming back from the hellish dimension Draco and the Daimyo’s son sent him to.

He would not only lose Leonardo today, he was about to lose Raphael as well. Don resisted the urge to scream and cry his heart out but even so, a few tears began to dampen his mask.

Should he leave and search for Raph or stay with Leo? Who should he save first? What to do now, what to do?

“I was thinking, now you have April here, maybe I could take LH, Mikey and Splinter with me to go get him before Flynn finds him or worse, the police” Casey suggested.

“Sensei and Mikey are too deep in meditation right now, waking them up could be dangerous” April said.

“Then I’ll go with LH”

“Casey, please-”

“-April, my best friend is out there and he’s gonna get himself killed because of a fucking bastard! I can’t just stay here and do nothing!”

“He already beat you and LH before. I’m not going to let that happen again!”

“Flynn is alone now; we can take him down easily!”

“If the police is around then I don’t think we’d have a chance to get him without being discovered” Don finally spoke.

“Don, are you serious?! Raph told me he was gonna _die_ killing that guy! And you- you just act like you don’t-”

“-Don’t even go there, Casey!” Don countered. “I care about my brothers but I can’t go save Raph’s sorry ass when I already have a dying brother here!”

“Then you’re just gonna wait till he’s comatose like Leo to do something? Great idea, egghead!” Casey spat.

Donatello _stood up so fast his chair_  flew backward and hit the floor with a whack, startling April and LH in the process. The genius’ teeth were bared like and his low guttural growl made him look as terrifying as the savage monster he had become during his second mutation; his hands were curled up in tight fists and his blood shot eyes glared daggers at Casey Jones. A loud gasp stopped the furious ninja before he could get his hands on the masked vigilante and made him turn his head around in time to see his brother taking deep breaths through his mouth and his eyes slowly opening for the first time in a month.

April smiled through her tears, bringing her hands to her mouth. “They did it, they brought him back”

 

* * *

 

Raphael panted heavily, sweat and blood coating his body and mask; his muscles screamed in pain and his eyes threatened to close from exhaustion. He could hear his Father lecturing him about his sleeping habits and how one day he would regret not sleeping enough before battle. _  
_

_‘Guess he meant a day like today’_ He thought with a touch of humor.

“Tired already?” Flynn asked mockingly.

The red-clad ninja glared at him trying to look intimidating. Surprisingly, after battling for hours, the battered man was still standing like so; he barely fought back, his defense consisted in dodging and his only weapon was his walking stick and even so, he hadn’t broken a sweat nor did he need a break.

“I’m just… warming up” He replied trying to recover his breath. Suddenly Flynn’s smug smile dropped, he grabbed his head with his free hand and grunted in pain.

 _“That little fucker! How could he… it’s not possible!”_ He said mentally _. “Oh well… doesn’t matter. They’re not a threat to me”_

Taking advantage of this, Raphael lunged at Samuel but the latter snapped out of his trance and escaped the ninja’s attack with only a large gash on his side.

“Lucky strike” Flynn chuckled. “But this is far from being over, isn’t it”

“Right you are, dickface” Raph growled.

“In that case, I believe a game of tag is in order hmm?”

Before Raph could notice, Samuel disappeared from his sight. The only ones who the red-clad ninja knew used such advanced disappearance maneuvers were Splinter and Leonardo; how was it possible that Flynn knew them? That was yet another mystery. A whoosh of air from behind make Raph look behind him but Flynn wasn’t there. Once again, a tap on his shoulder had him turning his head.

The man was just inches away from his face, his fetid breath blowing on Raph’s face making him gag.

He smiled and spoke in a low voice. “Oh and by the way… you’re it”

A piercing pain on his left side made Raphael curse loudly and crumble to his knees while Samuel made a run for it into the woods with a blood stained blade protruding from the end of his walking stick. Raphael scolded himself for not noticing it before although he wondered if that’s what he was talking about when he mentioned something about being inside a ninja’s mind. The wounded turtle clutched his side, the sticky warm blood stained his three fingered hand and made him wince; the wound wasn’t deep but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t bleed out.

If he had to find Flynn in such conditions, he had to be quick. He yanked his mask off his face, pressed it against the wound and tightened his belt hissing at the sudden pain. Once he made sure it wouldn’t fall or move out of place, Raph began to follow the trail Samuel had left with the blood that stained the blade. It wasn’t long before the red-clad turtle heard voices coming his way so he climbed a nearby tree and stayed quiet. A police officer came into view followed by another young one and his K-9 partner; the german shepherd smelled the ground frenetically and growled at the blood stain in the spot Raph had been not long ago.

 _“Shit, shit, shit!”_ Raph freaked out mentally. _“Fucking dog’s gonna find me!”_

“Hey Simon, there’s blood here!”

“Do you think this blood is Flynn’s?”

“I dunno, man. Better call reinforcements just in case”

The sound of breaking glass alerted the dog who growled again and pulled the young officer away from where he found Raph’s blood; the K-9’s persistent pulling, barking and growling convinced the officers to follow him leaving a clear path for Raph to escape and go after Flynn before he passed out from blood lost.

With the corner of his eye, he caught sudden movement coming from some bushes. Raph stealthily made his way to them and jumped. “Gotcha, bastard!” To his surprise and disappointment, he had caught a dead trunk instead of Flynn.

“Wrong again, Raphael” The man hissed from behind, stabbing Raph’s right exposed side this time.

“AHHH! SON OF A B-BITCH!” 

Samuel laughed at the top of his lungs. “And to think you came all the way here just to die for a lost cause”

Raph looked up. “Lost cause?” Samuel’s knowing smile was enough for the turtle’s golden eyes to open up like saucers in realization. “No… no! Leo no, no it can’t be!”

“Think what you want, Raphael. Denying reality will not bring your brother back or should I say… brothers?” Flynn added, waving Mikey’s crystallized eye in front of Raph’s face.

“Mikey? You… you got Mikey too?” Raph whispered miserably, his face a mask of disbelief and pain. 

“I warned him but he wouldn’t listen” Samuel said nonchalantly. “Now you only have one brother left, how sad”

“YOU’RE LYING! YOU’RE FUCKING LYING!”

Gathering all his remaining strength, Raphael threw himself at Flynn. So great was his pain that he didn’t see the blade coming until he felt it deep in his stomach, burning, taking his breath away. Flynn smiled and pulled the turtle closer, embracing him while he twitched and spat blood.

“Hush now, dear turtle of mine” He whispered, patting Raph’s head tenderly. “It’s time to play a new game”

 

 


	36. Chapter 36

Never in his life had Michelangelo felt so tired and energy drained after a meditation session. His head pounded insistently, it almost felt like a woodpecker had crawled inside his skull and now was pecking his way out. Slowly he opened his eyes, wincing at the pain when he unconsciously tried to open his now non-existent left one; he blinked away the blurriness and immediately searched for his older brother in his Father’s room and when he didn’t see him, he panicked.

“What… what happened? Sensei, where’s Leo?”

The ninja master drew in a breath before letting it out slowly, joining his youngest son back in the real world. The young turtle didn’t understand how the aged rodent could be so calm after what they had witnessed inside Leo’s mind and so he had to control himself to not tackle Splinter and demand answers.

“Master, didn’t you hear me? Where’s Leo? Did we bring him back?”

“Be patient, my son” Splinter said calmly, opening his eyes. “Patience is the key to everything”

“Sensei, I’m DONE being patient! I need answers now!”

As if on cue, the voice of their female friend rang through the lair. _“MASTER SPLINTER, MIKEY! HE’S WAKING UP! LEO IS WAKING UP!”_

Michelangelo’s attention switched from Splinter to the closed shoji doors from where the voice had came and stared at it in shock; judging by the cheerful tone April had used, the miracle had actually happened: Leonardo had returned to the world of the living. However, for some strange reason, the young ninja doubted what he had just heard. The aged rodent smiled in triumph; his youngest son had defeated Flynn and with him the demons that haunted his and Leonardo’s souls. He was about to congratulate Mikey but his features changed when he noticed the shadow of disbelief and doubt creeping his way up to his son’s mind once again.

_"MASTER SPLINTER, MIKEY! HURRY UP!”_

Although April’s second call sounded more insistent, Mikey didn’t move; he just stared at the door, unresponsive, like questioning reality and himself. He did flinch when Splinter put a paw on his shoulder and shook him gently, though.

“Michelangelo?”

The orange-clad ninja’s blue lone eye looked up into Splinter’s brown ones expectantly, questioning, hopeful. “Is… is it true, Father? Did we save him?”

Splinter smiled and caressed the young turtle’s head. “Come, my son. We must welcome your brother”

 

* * *

 

Heavy wasn’t enough of a word for the blue-clad turtle to describe how he felt at the moment however he felt glad that he at last was feeling something other than pain and bitter cold. His skin was warm again and as he opened his eyes for the first time in so long, he saw light instead of that nagging darkness that had taunted him for so long. He was finally home. Body and soul reunited at last. He had finally recovered complete control of his senses as well, he could feel the soft bed sheets covering him and the fluffiness of the pillow beneath his head and neck; he could smell the various medicines that he knew were part of Donatello’s infirmary as well as April’s sweet perfume.

_'_ _April’s perfume? What?’_

Focusing on controlling his other senses he heard his family and friends’ voices and saw their reactions as his sight cleared out with every blink. Casey clung to his red-headed girlfriend tightly containing his desire to give his resuscitated friend a rib crushing hug, April cried and laughed almost hysterically and Leatherhead sighed in relief and smiled widely as the blue-clad warrior looked at his surroundings.

“Leo!” Another voice joined the scene, this time it belonged to the leader’s youngest sibling who almost threw himself at him if it wasn’t for Splinter who stopped his effusive welcoming call.

“Oh my god, we did it! Sensei, we did it!” Mikey beamed. “Donnie, don’t just stand there! Come say hi!”

Leo tried to speak again but his mouth was so dry it was impossible for him to articulate words, let alone a full sentence. He licked his cracked lips in an unsuccessful attempt to moisturize them.

“Donatello, please give your brother some water” 

When the order wasn’t executed promptly, everyone in the room turned to glance at the silent turtle. Still dazed but curious, Leonardo looked around the room; in a barely lit corner, away from the crowd of family and friends stood Donatello, his arms hanging limply at his sides, a haunted look on his face as if he’d seen an entity. Leonardo didn’t understand… why did his brother look so scared? Was he in such deplorable conditions that _Don_ couldn’t dare look at him? Leo tried licking his lips again only to worsen the problem; the moment he parted them the little cracks began to bleed. It wasn’t life threatening or too painful, just mildly annoying… and it made him desperate for some water to cleanse the copper taste lingering in his mouth after licking up some of the blood.  

“I’ll get the water. Someone make Donnie snap out of it, will you?” Mikey said before hurrying to the kitchen.

“Donnie, what’s wrong?” April asked worriedly. “Are you feeling ok?”

While it was a non deniable fact that Donatello’s _body_   was present at the moment in the infirmary the same couldn’t be said about his _mind_. The purple-clad ninja watched in awe at the brother who had just come back from a hellish place, escaping Death’s bony hand. Don’s heart hammered so fast against his chest he thought for a moment it would burst out breaking bones, tearing muscles, tissue and skin in order to escape.

_‘He’s awake. He’s awake… after all this time, he’s awake!’_

“Donnie?” A voice called him. He didn’t know whose but he couldn’t care less.

There were so many things that made Leonardo’s return an impossible fact to believe, so many laws of nature and logic that screamed at the resident genius this was all an illusion, another creation of his broken, tired mind… a hallucination, part of his drunken stupor.

_'Maybe it’s a dream, a nightmare. Yes, it must be so’_

But he was wrong, science and logic were wrong. Leonardo, his big brother, his leader… he was here.

Awake. Talking.

Alive.

“-Oi brainiac! C’mon man, you’re scaring us”

_'Alive. Leo… he is-’_

“… he’s alive” Don’s voice came out like a whisper, his expression never changing. He was startled when a warm, silky hand took a hold of his. It was April’s.

The woman smiled at him, her green eyes shining because of the unshed tears. “Of course he’s alive, Donnie. And I think he wants to see you”

By the time Donatello decided to move, Michelangelo had arrived and soon enough he was assisting Leo so he could sit up straight and helping him drink. “I can’t believe you’re finally here” He almost squealed. “I mean, you were always here just not always. As in, you know and… well, you-”

“Mikey…” Leo interrupted as soon as he downed the entire glass greedily. Giving him with the most sincere of smiles, Leo took Mikey’s hand on his. “Thank you, baby brother”

The orange-clad turtle couldn’t contain himself and embraced the sword wielder tightly dropping the empty glass on the bed, a couple of tears of happiness snaked their way down Mikey’s cheeks only to fall on Leo’s neck. The latter, who had been observing Donatello’s reactions from the moment of this awakening, held up his free hand towards his genius brother inviting him to join as well. Needless to say, the purple-clad ninja didn’t have to be told twice.

“Leonardo, my child”

At the sound of their father’s voice, Don and Mikey pulled away from Leo’s arms almost reluctantly and allowed their father to approach the sword wielder and join their circle.

“Father” Leo breathed out trying to compose himself.

The ninja master looked so frail, so aged and yet so relieved and happy to see him. In the end his emotions took the best of him and as Splinter embraced him, Leonardo broke down. The time he spent in his prison he longed for his brothers and his father’s presence, their different scents, their voices and feel loved and protected. Now, awake and in his family’s arms, he finally felt safe. Complete. Well, almost. If only Raphael hadn’t left, this embrace would have been so much sweeter. The Hamatos stayed like this until the last of their tears had been shed.

“Welcome back, my son” Splinter was the first to speak once the embrace ended. “Your ability to overcome great adversities never ceases to surprise me”

Leo shook his head. “No, Father. I believe everyone but me deserves the credit this time. Especially Mikey”

“You sure are tougher than Raph, pal” Casey said, giving Leo’s shell and gentle pat.

At the mention of his missing brother’s name, Leo grew desperate. “Raphael…no, he’s… Master Splinter, Raphael, he-”

“-we know, Casey told us. We were just waiting for Mikey and Sensei so we could go get him” April calmed the bewildered Leonardo.

“Well, what are we waiting for? LH, Casey, help Donnie put Leo in the BattleShell. I’m guessing he’s gonna need to stay in bed so see if you can get his cot inside too. April, you brought your van right? Cool, because-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out! Mikey, are you even listening to yourself? Leo can’t leave the lair, he just woke up!” Don replied.

“He _has_ to come with us! Raph needs to see he’s alive!” Mikey argued back.

“But he won’t be able to move in his condition!”

“We don’t need him to fight!”

“And what if we _do_ have to fight, Mikey? _Then_ what do we do?”

“Don, we should be in the BattleShell looking for Raph instead of wasting more time. Let him come with us and let’s go now!” Casey said, joining sides with Mikey.

“Leo stays here in the lair and that’s _it_!”

“If you haven’t noticed, he is _awake_! Therefore you are _not_ the leader which means you don’t get to order _anyone_ around here!”

“Just because he’s awake, Michelangelo, it doesn’t mean he’s fully recovered!”

“Don’t think the full naming thing scares me, _Donatello_ ”

“My friend, if the situation was different I would also suggest Leonardo to remain here but this is not the case” LH intervened “If you just gave them a chance to-”

“-DAMMIT LEATHERHEAD, WE ALMOST LOST LEO! I HAD TO SEE HIM DIE TWICE!”

If Donatello had ever sounded desperate in his life that was nothing compared to how he felt at the moment and had he had any hair he would be pulling it right now until his scalp bled but he had to conform himself with sending a single, firm punch into the cold infirmary wall as hard as his hand could resist. Nobody in the room expected Don- the gentle warrior, the pacifist and diplomatic turtle- to react so badly till the point of hurting himself but no one had the guts to approach him and talk some sense into him. Not even Leatherhead.

“Don, look at me”  

Said turtle flinched when he heard his eldest brother call his name. He turned his back at everyone and made his way to the door, not wanting to hear or see anyone or anything at the moment. 

“Donnie, please brother don’t ignore me”

There it was… that a tone Donatello knew well. He knew he was weak, that he was and would always be Leo’s most devoted follower. If he didn’t stand his ground now he would fall and submit to his leader’s orders for he knew, deep inside, whatever Leo’s decision was it was the right one. 

“I’m not letting you leave us again, Leo. We can’t lose you! Not again”

“Donatello, I won’t fight. I know I’m not in conditions to do it. All I’m asking is that you let me go with you and the others”

“Leo, don’t-”

“-when Raph talked to me before leaving, he sounded so broken, so… defeated. Donnie, please. He needs me. He needs _all_ of us”

Don’s brown tired eyes met Leo’s dark ones as he turned to face him. The way his brother looked at him made his heart clench and he felt his resistance slowly crumbling. The leader made a very good point, for the last few weeks Donatello had noticed Raphael’s strong will deteriorating at a quick rate and their latest encounter in the infirmary before the sai wielder’s sudden disappearance had only made things worse. Don felt terribly guilty for the way he had behaved, driving his most volatile and impulsive brother to seek revenge no matter what the final outcome was. He owed this to Raph. 

Again, Leonardo’s fearlessness and devotion to his family had triumphed over Donatello’s cautious, logical nature. Admitting his defeat, Don nodded before redirecting his attention to the rest of his family and friends.

“Casey, help Mikey get the extra cot in the BattleShell. LH, you’ll carry Leo to the cot and please make sure it’s perfectly secured. April, get me the first aid kit, blood bags and take them to your van. You’ll follow us with Master Splinter and Casey. I’ll start tracking Raph’s shell-cell. Oh and Casey, one more thing”

Before the raven haired human could say something, the bo staff came down to his head with a loud _thwack!_. “OW! What the fuck man?!”

“That was for calling me an egghead. Now go help Mikey or you’ll get another one”

 

* * *

 

For the next fifteen minutes the once silent lair was everything but silent, people came and went carrying all kinds of medical equipment, tracking devices and even some snacks for the twelve hour car ride; April and Don had discussed about whether they could use the helicopter or not to save time, in the end they both agreed a helicopter in broad daylight could draw too much attention from the cops, unwanted witnesses and Flynn himself.

“What about the cops? There’s gotta be cops around looking for that creep too, right?” April asked.

Don sighed. “Honestly I have no idea how are we going to deal with them. My advice? Avoid being seen, if that fails then don’t get caught”

“And if _that_ fails?”

“Run and don’t get shot”

“Sounds like a good plan to me”

“Well, all packed and ready to go” Casey announced dusting his hands. “C’mon babe, Mikey won’t shut up till we’re on the road”

April clasped her hand on Don’s shoulder and smiled. “We’re gonna get him back”

“Yeah, I know” Don smiled back.

Casey and April moved to their assigned positions and went ahead with Splinter accompanying them. While on his way to the BattleShell the genius turtle then glanced at the cot where his eldest brother lied on; Leatherhead had made a good job securing him and making him comfortable enough for the long trip however he felt the necessity to go check on his brother one last time.

He stepped into the back of the truck and knelt beside the leader who welcomed him with a drowsy smile. “Hey bro, how are you feeling?”

“Sleepy” Leo’s hoarse voice matched his answer.

“After taking a month long nap? I don’t think so” Don teased. 

“Ha ha, listen to the funny genius”

The brothers shared a smile. Then Don sobered up. “Remember Leo, you’ll stay in the car no matter what happens and don’t even think about playing hero or I’ll personally make sure you stay in bed for another month. Got it?”

“I know I know. I won’t leave this truck” Leo groaned. “How come you do a great job as leader now but couldn’t do it the past two years?”

“Don’t make me hurt you” Don threatened lightly. A loud and insistent beeping coming from the truck’s cabin interrupted the moment.

“Duuude! Move your lazy butt now!” Mikey yelled. “We can’t let that bastard turn Raphie into a zombie!”

Shaking his head, though still smiling, Donatello walked over to the driver’s seat and started the engine.

 

* * *

“I see you’re finally awake. I was starting to worry”

The throbbing pain in his head made him clench his already closed eyes. The smell of dirt and decay hit his nostrils making him gag or maybe it was the dizziness altogether with the horrible headache? He wasn’t sure. Was that… blood he smelled? Yeah, it smelled like blood and fresh too. Who was bleeding? He’d heard someone talk, maybe that other person was bleeding.

Slowly Raphael opened his eyes. He had hoped to see a clear sky, a shining sun but instead all he saw was grass and a couple of bloody shoes; those were Flynn’s he recognized them. Oh now he remembered! He was in Flynn’s domain, after chasing him around the ninja had somehow been overpowered by the twisted man; he remembered the blade going deep into his guts, the warmth of his blood leaving his body, the darkness that followed the pain. Why wasn’t that feeling pain? Was he dead? Was he in hell with Flynn? And since when had Flynn learned to walk upside down?

Maybe this was hell after all.

“Remember this place? This is where you and your brothers left me to die. Once a beautiful garden and now, my friend, it will be your grave” Flynn continued.

Grave? So he wasn’t dead, good. That would explain the headache and the whole place around him but that didn’t explain why the fuck wasn’t he feeling the stab wound and Flynn walking upside down.

“What? No witty remark? Oh I know! You’re sad because your beloved Leonardo and the young and innocent Michelangelo are dead. Don’t worry, you’ll join them soon. Well, not _too_ soon. I still want to play a little with you”

The world around Raph spun, literally. He felt like throwing up but only blood dribbled down his chin. Or should he say… up his chin? Now feeling a little more awake thanks to that spin, the red-clad ninja realized he wasn’t delusional nor in hell and Flynn was definitely not walking upside down, the man had hung Raphael upside down, both legs and arms tied firmly together to prevent any smart moves.

To add insult to injury, Raph had been stripped from his gear and mask leaving him naked before Flynn and his weapons were nowhere to be seen.

The red-clad ninja squirmed, he groaned when he felt the burning sensation coming from his middle section where he had been stabbed. He looked up the best he could and saw a tight bandage soaked with blood in the middle; Flynn hadn’t let him die but the thought of what this sick man could do to him now had Raphael wishing he had.

“Now I need your opinion about something” Flynn’s voice came from behind Raph’s shell. “How does this feel?”

All air left his lungs when he felt Samuel hit his left side with the cane. His ribs would sure feel that later.

“Nothing, Raphael? Perhaps like this then”

Another blow came from his right side now. Raph groaned but didn’t scream; he wasn’t going to give Flynn the pleasure of seeing him surrender to the pain.

“No screaming either. Why, you must be broken already! Either that or you’re just really stubborn… and stupid” Samuel mocked him.

“…fuck you” Raph muttered.

The man knelt and brought his face close to Raph’s. “What was that, my boy? I cannot hear you”

Raph spat a mouthful of blood hitting Flynn straight between his eyes. “Fuck. You!”

Calmly, Samuel wiped the blood and spit off his face with the sleeve of his shirt then backhanded Raph with such force he made him spin once again. “I do think you are in need of someone to teach you manners” The man said straightening up. “But do not worry, my child…”

From behind his back and to Raph’s horror, Flynn pulled the pair of sai. “…I will enjoy being your mentor”

The first thought that crossed Raphael’s mind once he saw Samuel’s maniacal grin was that really, _really_ , wished he was dead. And then the sai came down.


End file.
